LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla – Disney’s Animal Kingdom is full of incredible experiences, but it’s also part of a conservation effort taking place thousands of miles from Central Florida.
Disney is one of nine organizations working to help save the Guam Kingfisher — a bird native to the island of Guam.
Now, they’re celebrating a major milestone.
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Two birds who received care at Animal Kingdom have been released into the wild on Palmyra Atoll. This marks the first time in nearly 40 years that the birds are back in the wild.
Dr. Deidre Fontenot said Disney has been involved in conservation efforts for bird species on Guam since the early 2000s. She said Disney has been supporting two bird species native to Guam one of them being the Guam Kingfisher — which was declared extinct back in 1988.
“Now we’re at a monumental moment where we have two birds, one that had an egg that was laid here, and a bird that came here to go through a health assessment prior to release as a part of this this global conservation effort on Palmyra and Disney’s heritage will live on as a part of this conservation program and it has been a real team effort to be a part of that,” Fontenot said.
While the birds, traditionally known as the Sihek, are very cute, Fontenot said they can be a little bit of a challenge. “There are very important cues, and skill sets that come with taking care of the species,” Fontenot said. “It makes them incredibly charismatic. They’re a Kingfisher species, so they eat lots of lizards and do a lot of hunting in the wild. But they are very aggressive about their territory. So, keeping them in a zoo environment has been challenging and there’s been a rising level of expertise, including our team members here with our birds’ team.
An invasive species called the Brown Tree Snake that was introduced in the 1950s eventually led to the bird’s extinction.
Fontenot, who has been working with Guam Kingfishers for the last 20 years, said it’s surreal seeing the two birds who passed through Animal Kingdom now back in the wild.
“Knowing that I’m handling and taking care of these birds that are going to have to basically fly off into an important legacy is pretty surreal,” Fontenot said. “It really is truly an example of how zoos are saving species and this particular small story of this little bird from Guam is just an amazing symbol of the successes of zoos and aquariums.”
Prior to the birds being released, they spent a short time in quarantine where they were introduced to the sights and sounds of their surroundings which included snacking on small insects, crabs and lizards.
They were also fitted with radio transmitter devices so teams could track their progress on the islands.
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