All about the Up Close with Rhinos tour offered at Disney’s Animal Kingdom:
Disney World is so much more than just a “theme park,” and I think Animal Kingdom is one of the best examples of this. It’s a great opportunity to learn about animals and see them up close.
I appreciate how Disney expands on this even more by offering backstage tours. These are offered in several parks (Epcot has Behind the Seeds, Magic Kingdom has Keys to the Kingdom, etc.)
But Animal Kingdom has the most to offer, and it’s such a cool experience to learn more about the wildlife there and see things you might not normally see in the parks!
I’ve done Wild Africa Trek and Caring for Giants (elephants) in the past, and more recently I was able to do their Up Close with Rhinos tour.
The Basics
Length of tour: 60 minutes
Location: meet at Curiosity Animal Tours kiosk (by Kilimanjaro Safaris)
Ages: 4+ (those under 18 must be accompanied by a participating adult)
Price: $49 per person
Arrival
First of all – plan to be at check-in at least 15 minutes before your tour starts. They leave right on the dot so if you are even 1 or 2 minutes late, you’re out of luck.
I know this because we got there with about 3 minutes to spare and they were basically ready to leave (note – do not just it if a cast member tells you that you absolutely have enough time to do the attraction before your 11:00 tour!).
We literally sprinted through Animal Kingdom but we made it. Checked in, signed waivers, and got our nametags.
One thing to note is that no photography or video of any kind is allowed on this tour. This is a departure from the other Animal Kingdom tours. I kind of wish they would at least have a photopass photographer to take pictures, even if you had to buy them. You get the chance to pet a rhino on this tour, and it would be so neat to have a photo of it!
So keep in mind all of my photos in this post are of the rhinos from riding Kilimanjaro Safaris, and not during the actual Up Close with Rhinos tour.
Backstage
We started by heading into a backstage area right next to Kilimanjaro Safaris, where we walked along until we reached a shuttle bus. Here we got on board to drive down to the rhino area.
Before we got to actually interact with the rhinos, we went into the main facility and learned a lot about how they are cared for and about the white rhino in general.
Animal Kingdom, of course, has high standards for the care of their animals. They are one of only about 200 facilities in the world that meet these high standards.
And they really go above and beyond to care for the rhinos. We learned all sorts of things about how they care for them and train them. One great thing is that they will never force an animal to do anything.
For instance, they try to get the rhinos back into their barn at night by enticing them with food. But if the rhinos choose to stay on the savanna, they can do so.
We also learned that “a dirty rhino is a healthy rhino”! The rhinos take care of cleaning themselves when needed, but the dirt helps protect their hide so they don’t do anything like washing them.
White rhinos at Animal Kingdom
There was a neat family tree inside this building that showed all of the rhinos at Animal Kingdom. I really wished I had a picture of that but I did my best to write down what I could remember.
I’ve tried to also put that together into my own “family tree,” but Disney’s looked much prettier!
Jao – born 1996 They mentioned she was the first rhino to undergo hormone therapy to get pregnant.
Kendi – born March 1999
Lola – born January 2010
Kiama – born February 2015
Ranger – born October 2020
Mylo – born September 2021
Logan – born November 2021
They also told us some white rhino facts about the species in general, as well as some behind the scenes info about the animals there. Here are just a few of the interesting things I learned:
- Hay is their favorite food
- They can run up to 35 mph
- The barn is hurricane-proof, and it has a padded floor, fans, and heaters
- White rhinos are the only social species of rhinos (other species only interact with others if they are breeding or have a small calf)
- They make several different vocalizations, including one like a donkey heehaw (to ask – hey, are you okay and alive? to others), a whine that sounds like a baby whale (by young rhinos), and a roar (usually females directed towards males, “sounds like a dinosaur screaming” according to our keeper!)
- Baby rhinos are about 100 pounds when they are born, but they grow quickly!
- Rhino horns are made of keratin – just like your fingernails.
- Also like your fingernails, rhino horns can grow back – but it takes time.
Meeting Ranger
Then it was time to go meet one of the rhinos! The specific rhino you will interact with varies on the day, but when we visited we got to meet Ranger.
Ranger was born in October 2020, so even though he was 4 years old they told us he is “4000 pounds and still growing”!
The keeper showed us a bit about how they train the rhinos, such as teaching them to open their mouths. This is important so they can get in there if they need to do dental work!
It was so cool to see the keeper interact with Ranger, and to see how they really do have different personalities. Just like people, they prefer certain keepers over others (and vice versa).
They have preferences for other things, too. We were informed that Ranger has a favorite scent: Calvin Klein Obsession!
Ranger really enjoys the enrichment devices that are provided for the rhinos to move around and play with. He has a grazing box that he has to move around and figure out how to get the food from before he can eat. This mimics their life in wild, when they wouldn’t just be fed food directly and would have to work for it.
Rhinos are very tactile, and their natural inclination is to rub on things, like a cat. So the enrichment devices are something they use for that as well.
Since Animal Kingdom currently has 3 younger male rhinos (Ranger, Mylo, and Logan), the cast member mentioned she was hoping they might form a little “bachelor herd,” and that they were trying to foster that bond.
Rhinos typically grow more aggressive around age 10, when they begin looking for their own mating opportunities. By age 10 you usually can’t have more than 1 bull (male rhino) in the barn at a time, but because these guys are still young they can do it. Hopefully they can stay together for the next few years!
Then we got our own opportunity to have a firsthand experience with Ranger. We were all able to pet him, and feel the texture of rhino skin. I can’t be sure, but it seemed like he enjoyed it!
Learning about Jao
We also got a bonus rhino sighting, as Jao was backstage. One of the two cast members works closely with Jao, and told us she likes to go back and forth from the paddock and the savanna.
She has grown particularly close to Jao, as they had to do some very special training to prepare her for hormone therapy. They needed to do ultrasounds, but they wouldn’t be able to see through a rhino’s thick skin. So instead they had to go internally – through the rectum! Since Jao had to be trained for an enema, there is a lot of trust and a special bond between rhino and trainer.
Lola was also trained for this, and they were able to do several ultrasounds during her pregnancy and watch Logan grow inside of her. What a cool experience!
Questions & Heading back
The cast members encouraged questions throughout the tour, and left some time for other questions at the end. Then we got back on the bus and returned to Animal Kingdom. Although we couldn’t take any photos backstage, they had some photo props for us after the tour!
Overall thoughts on the Up Close with Rhinos tour
I loved this tour. It was so great to learn more about these amazing creatures, and to hear their trainers talk about them with such passion. Being able to pet a rhino is a great experience too. I’d even do this again, because you might meet a different rhino – and I’m sure every trainer has something different to share.
The only downside for me is not being able to take photos. I understand they don’t want pictures backstage, but I do wish they were able to capture the moment of petting a rhino. And my memory in general is awful unless I take photos to trigger it, or write everything down.
I’m so glad Animal Kingdom offers these tours to learn more about the wildlife there – I’d love to see even more!
Related Posts
Not sure where to start when planning your Disney World trip? Feeling overwhelmed with all of the information and how to keep track of everything?
Consider vacation planning printables – over 60 pages of trip planning, including a budget worksheet, guide to characters, trip comparison worksheet, a look at the dining plans, info about Disney Lightning Lane passes, daily itineraries, packing checklist, and much more.
Have you done the Up Close with Rhinos tour? Would you want to try it?
Right, so, you’re doing this again with me. >D
Definitely!!