![]() “So, I literally watched Beni’s birth at 2 o’clock in the morning on my iPhone.” “I had the night team Zoom me so I could watch,” she remembers. Although Mori had the day off when Olivia gave birth, it was a moment she wouldn’t miss for the world. Mori has cared for eight-year-old Olivia since birth, and now Olivia is a first-time mom with a calf of her own. “It’s just amazing to see that transition.” Mori and Olivia “You start working with them, and all of a sudden there’s a bond,” Mori shares. Like other animals at Disney, okapis are trained to participate in their own care, but this can prove to be challenging due to their naturally reclusive nature. And while she has many highlights over her career, including opening Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park in 1998, her favorite is working alongside the animal of her youth – the okapi.Įarning an okapi’s trust is no small feat. Now a 30-year cast member, Mori works with a variety of animals ranging from birds to African hoof stock including zebras, giraffes and waterbuck on Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment team. “I was in shock and awe that it was actually in front of me, and ever since then I’ve been obsessed.” “It was the most beautiful animal I’d ever seen,” Mori beamed when asked about the experience. Three years after her encyclopedia discovery, at 16 years old, she saw her first okapi at the Bronx Zoo in New York. ![]() This mystery spoke to Mori, and she knew she wanted to work with them. It wasn’t until 1901 when they were actually seen for the first time by Western scientists. In fact, okapis long were believed to be nothing more than a myth … the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s version of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. Everything about these impressive animals prepares them for being amazing at avoiding detection – by predators and people. To avoid their scent being found by other okapis, calves don’t defecate for the first month after birth. Okapis in the forest find each other through scent glands in their feet. Their unique coats – including their striped legs that often get them confused with zebras, though they’re actually the only living relative of giraffes – help them blend into their surroundings. Immediately after birth, natural instincts kick in and they “tuck” away in the undergrowth of the forest to avoid predators. Given the reclusive nature of the okapi and the remote rainforests it hails from, it’s not surprising it’s so mysterious. “What is that, a zebra horse?” guests often ask her. In fact, most Walt Disney World Resort guests have never heard of it either. Thumbing through an encyclopedia of mammals in her local library, she stumbled on an animal she’d never heard of before. Disney animal keeper Mori was 13 when she found her calling in life.
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