Veterinary hospital manager Shelley also has a unique relationship with Peri. Peri was the first animal Ashley got to work with at Disney, and the two of them just clicked.

Ashley has a special bond with Peri that goes all the way back to Ashley’s first day with our team. It takes a lot of relationship building and trust to get an animal to participate in their own medical care – our team is on point with this, and the work isn’t as prickly as you might imagine.Ĭare for Peri starts with animal keepers, like Ashley, who observe and monitor her daily, provide a balanced diet from our nutrition team and train with Peri so she’ll participate in her own care. You’ll see that dynamic shine through in this week’s episode of our show, as the team provides care for pregnant prehensile-tailed porcupine Peri, and her porcupette. Deidre, our veterinary operations manager, has spent 20 years on our team, and we often talk about how teamwork with a holistic approach to animal health care is what makes working at Disney special. While some of this work occurs in our park’s state-of-the-art veterinary hospital, the magic extends beyond those four walls – it requires around the clock care – on land, in the water and even in the air.ĭr.

This week’s episode, “Peri’s Prickly Pregnancy,” shows how teamwork is essential for success when providing care for an animal’s health and well-being. They are fully devoted to providing outstanding care for our animals – and the way in which they do it hopefully inspires others to want to do the same. To say this team is passionate about their work is putting it lightly. “ Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom” shows viewers something I get to witness firsthand – an excellent team springing into action to do what’s best for the animals in their care. I’m incredibly proud to work with some real-life super heroes – experts on Disney’s animal care team who come together at a moment’s notice to care for the 5,000+ animals at Walt Disney World Resort. I’m a big fan of super hero movies and absolutely love it when groups of heroes come together to tackle a worthy cause. These types of scenes actually play out in my day-to-day life.

The magic of disney's animal kingdom