Groups were up and at Animal Kingdom by 7:45! They joined the morning speed walk to be among the first to ride Avatar Flight of Passage. The attraction discusses the issues of pollution, strip mining, etc. and the need to study keystone species, as well as why conservation efforts are important. (Travelers had already noted that Disney uses paper straws to “save the turtles”) Disney Travelers linked with an avatar to ride one of Pandora’s keystone species, a banshee.
Then they went off to Asia and Africa where they were able to visit many other keystone and endangered species on a jungle trek, safari, and gorilla falls trek (where there a was a 5 week old gorilla!) As Wilderness Explorers, they earned badges as they learned all kinds of fun facts. While the travelers haven’t enjoyed the “love bugs” that fly everywhere, in “It’s Tough to Be a Bug”, they learned why bugs are so essential. Besides helping to populate and grow crops and flowers, bugs help break down waste. Did you know that honeybees from one hive visit 3 MILLION flowers a day! After performance of the Festival of the Lion King, where many travelers ended up meeting the performers (thanks Mr. Robinson!!), they headed back to the hotel for our pizza and pool party—with some added birthday fun for two travelers! The “fun facts” were everywhere today! Did you know... Bats eat 600 insects in an hour and help pollinate many different plants. The bongo is a master of camouflage. Despite being orange, their white stripes to help them blend. The stripes mimics sunlight. The Okapi May look like zebras but they’re actually related to giraffe. Their tongue is long enough to reach its eyeballs! Hippopotamus sleep underwater. But they need to resurface every 8 minutes for oxygen. How do they do that? Their bodies naturally bring them up every 8 minutes for air. Hippos are the most dangerous animal in Africa because they are very territorial. Black rhinos can charge at 35 mph. Their population is at risk due to poachers. Their only predators are humans. Crocodiles are as long as a giraffe is tall! Lions sleep most hours of the day. The females do most of the hunting. They’re successful 1 of 15 hunts. African wild dogs, on the other hand, succeed on 9 of 10 hunts. A group of giraffe are called a tower. A group of hippos are known as a bloat. A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance. A group of rhinos is called a crash. Elephants a have a dominant tusk, the way humans have a dominant hand. You can tell because one tusk is longer. They are also endangered- 96 elephants are killed a day. The population does not rebound because it takes 22 months for a female to give birth. White rhinos have poor eye sight— they can only see 10 feet in front of them. Despite their weight, they run like horses which means all 4 feet can be off the ground. Comments are closed.
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AuthorsExperience Disney through the eyes and voice of MASH 8th Graders Archives
May 2018
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