Actor John Lithgow once wrote a children’s song about manatees that goes: “I’m a manatee, I’m a manatee, I’m every bit as wrinkled as my grannity, No difference between my face and fanity...”

And after looking at Lou, you’ll agree.

Meet Lou the Manatee

Lou’s placid face is a cross between a seal and a Shar Pei, wrinkles and all, and his massive black body (weighing more than a ton) tapers to a fin, like a mermaid’s tail. He uses that tailfin to propel himself awkwardly through the water, while his two fanlike front flippers are used as rudders or to clutch lettuce that make up the bulk of his meals. Jane Davis, Aquarium Curator, adores these gentle creatures. “They may be a little slow, but they do learn,” she says, almost protectively.



Despite his less-than-movie-star looks, Lou and his companion manatee get hundreds of visitors daily. That’s because their recovery room/pool is part of The Seas, an attraction in Walt Disney World’s Epcot theme park. More than a dozen manatees have been cared for here—injured like Lou, from boat’s propellers.

Animals in an Amusement Park?

Animals in amusement parks—odd bedfellows, yes? There were things I needed to know: Where did Disney find the animals to fill the tanks in The Seas? Wasn’t it exploitative—a swath of land (complete with a hotel) that features exotic animals like elephants, gorillas, tigers and giraffes? Surely the animals would pay the price for our craven entertainment?



What I didn’t know was that people like John Lehnhardt were behind the design of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Lehnhardt, now Animal Operations Director, has 32 years of experience working with animals in captivity—including eight years at the Calgary Zoo. He’s always been committed to giving animals the best possible care.

Designed with the Animals in Mind

Take the Kilimanjaro Safari ride, a 20-minute truck ride through quasi-Africa where visitors scan the savannah for hippos, rhinos, giraffes, gazelles, cheetahs, elephants, lions, and more. But the sightings aren’t guaranteed.

And that suits Lehnhardt just fine. “The habitat is designed so the animals can choose to be near the road, or further away or in areas where they can’t be seen.” Nothing at the Animal Kingdom is done by force, or for entertainment value at the animal’s expense.



Guests on the Safari ride love to see the lions basking on top of the rocky outcrop near the road (yes, it’s a Pride rock moment), but Disney discovered early on the lions preferred to stay in the cooler, shaded areas out of sight. After several failed attempts, they found a solution: install air conditioning in the rock. Yes, the lions are cooler and more comfortable than the sweaty park guests.

Caring for Endangered Species


The Animal Kingdom has also made huge progress in breeding endangered animals. African elephants, for example, were almost impossible to breed in captivity a decade ago.

“We’ve cracked the code,” says Lehnhardt. “The key is letting elephants be elephants.”

That means letting the elephants build relationships with each other, as part of a herd, and giving them enough space to explore, play, and forage for food. Animal Kingdom’s elephant herd is the largest in North America, and currently includes five born-in-Disney-World babies.



Lehnhardt has also overseen the births of seven white rhinos—and helped reintroduce two of them to a reserve in Uganda, where the species has almost become extinct. The rhinos roam the grounds of Kilimanjaro Safari, but other endangered species being bred at Disney are never seen by visitors, partly because they lack the drama and entertainment value of animals like tigers and gorillas.

Secret Language of Elephants

You may not equate a theme park with a great place to carry out research, but Ogden does: “We feel that the way to take very good care of our animals is to attract the best people, and to keep those people here we need to help them continue their own professional development.”



Having a herd of elephants in a restricted area enables researchers to record the elephant’s vocalizations and match them to what the pachyderms are doing. With this data, researchers are uncovering a previously secret language.

When female elephants—and best friends, apparently—Moyo and Thandi are separated from each other, they make specific sounds that might be translated as “Hey, girlfriend, where are you?”  The response, another distinct sound, says, “I’m here. C’mon over.”

Rescue and Rehabilitation

Research has also helped with another group of animals Disney helps to rescue and rehab—sea turtles. The team has taken in more than 250 sea turtles, many with serious injuries to their shells caused by collisions with boats, and their studies have helped them identify medications than can speed up shell re-growth.

Disney is now taking care of 53 sea turtles who were harmed by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, thanks to a “recovery room” that was constructed during the unusually cold weather of early 2010 to help mend sea turtles made ill by the prolonged cool temps.



While the sea turtles are usually released within a few months, the manatees may need several years of rehab because their injuries are often to flippers and muscles that take longer to heal than turtle shells.

Tom Hopkins, Animal Operations Area Director for Animal Programs, says the rewards of seeing the manatees released “provide fuel for all of us working here. It’s a great moment.” But the animals aren’t just tossed into the ocean and left to fend for themselves. They are carefully monitored, and brought back if necessary.



“Very few of the manatees have had to come back, but we had one—Moe—who came back three times. We were starting to wonder if he’d be able to make it,” Davis says, “but he did.”



Lou, unfortunately, will not be released. After several surgeries, the Disney vet crew decided that his injured tail flipper will never be functional enough to enable him to survive in the wild.

Praise from Jane Goodall

When Jackie Ogden wants to brag a little about their animal care programs, she quotes naturalist Jane Goodall, who “loves all animals but doesn’t love all zoos. We gave her an award in 2006, and in her acceptance speech she said: 'I’m always asked what I feel about zoos. Well, if I were an animal, I’d want to live in Disney’s Animal Kingdom.'"

That’s high praise, and seeing what goes on behind the scenes has eased my mind, too. The manatee rehab provides entertainment for us humans, but it also helps return them to the ocean. I can feel good about that.

Photos courtesy of Disney World