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Last week, a former Disney cast member alleged that Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park covered up a death on its Kilimanjaro Safaris attraction.
Kilimanjaro Safaris is one of Walt Disney World Resort’s most unique rides. Sprawling across 110 acres, the Harambe Wildlife Preserve makes Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park the largest of the four Central Florida Disney parks. It features a vast array of African animals, including elephants, giraffes, lions, cheetahs, zebras, crocodiles, and more.
Five years after Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park opened, a tragedy struck Kilimanjaro Safaris. Death is natural when working with animals, but a freak accident took the life of a six-year-old giraffe named Betsy on July 21, 2003.
Credit: Disney
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According to The Tampa Bay Times, an unexpected thunderstorm hastily descended on Kilimanjaro Safaris. Disney cast members didn’t have enough time to recall the animals to their backstage, indoor respite areas. Though Walt Disney Imagineering installed lightning rods throughout the attraction to protect the wild inhabitants, lightning struck and killed Betsy.
A Walt Disney World Resort spokesperson didn’t know if any Disney Park guests witnessed the giraffe’s death, though Kilimanjaro Safaris trucks were in the area at the time. She reassured distressed fans that “To the best of my knowledge, it was a quick death.”
Credit: Brittany DiCologero, Inside the Magic
The American Zoo and Aquarium Association, which inspects and accredits zoos and wildlife parks, including Disney’s Animal Kingdom, said animal lightning deaths at zoos were rare but not unheard of.
Walt Disney World Resort hasn’t publicly acknowledged any giraffes killed by lightning since 2003. However, a former Disney cast member named Thomas (@dappermanatee on TikTok) alleges that a harrowingly similar event occurred in 2014:
@dappermanatee do you know this disney fun fact? #dappermanatee #formercastmember #epcot #giraffe #animalkingdom #magickingdomorlando #disneyworld #disneyland
“One morning, the zookeepers were coming into Animal Kingdom, and the attraction cast members on the safari were loading up the trucks,” Thomas began. “…As they headed out on the trail, they found that the night before, during a huge thunderstorm, a giraffe had become a lightning rod on the safari.”
Most Kilimanjaro Safaris animals are recalled to indoor enclosures when the theme park closes but aren’t required to enter if they choose not to.
The ride hadn’t opened yet, but guests were waiting. So, Disney cast members made a controversial decision.
Credit: Disney
“You can’t just move a big giraffe,” Thomas explained. “It’s not that simple…Allegedly, they had the giraffe moved in a way that looked like it was sleeping so guests all day wouldn’t notice that it was a Kentucky-fried giraffe…Once the day was over, they were able to properly dispose of the giraffe.”
A commenter claiming to be a former animal care cast member confirmed the tragic story.
“I worked for Disney from ’05 to ’17 as a keeper in Ituri forest,” @bmcdermed wrote. “After this happened If lightning was in the area we were required to shift the okapi in simply because they were cousins to the giraffe.”
Credit: Disney
“Yes!!!!!” @sunnypanda1030 added. “My cousin worked security at the time it happened!”
Walt Disney World Resort didn’t publicly acknowledge the alleged giraffe death in 2014. Thomas and other former Disney cast members’ recollections of the incident are unconfirmed.
What’s the wildest thing that’s happened to your family on a Magic Kingdom Park, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or Disney’s Animal Kingdom ride? Share your story with us.
