Disney Spent Years Prepping a White Rhino for Cataract Surgery

Disney cares about its animals. That’s obvious to anyone who’s ridden Kilimanjaro Safaris, taken the Wildlife Express Train to Conservation Station, or watched Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom on Disney+. Still, I was surprised to learn what Disney’s animal care team did for Kendi, a 27-year-old white rhino living at Animal Kingdom.

Several years ago, Disney’s veterinarians noticed clouding in one of Kendi’s eyes. It was a cataract. While common in older animals (and humans), cataracts can lead to blindness if left untreated. That’s not ideal for any animal, but especially not one that weighs a couple of tons.

Most people hear “cataract surgery” and think of a procedure scheduled a few weeks out. Kendi’s surgery required years of preparation.

Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment (ASE) team first had to train Kendi to accept eye drops from her handlers. The drops would be a critical part of her recovery, helping prevent infection after surgery.

That lead time also gave Walt Disney World’s costuming team an unusual assignment: build a custom eye mask for a rhinoceros. The project took two years. Tracy, a Disney costuming manager, described the challenge:

“This was definitely outside the scope of what our team is usually asked to do. But nothing about this project was ordinary. We worked closely with the Animal Care teams to design a fully custom solution – one that suited Kendi’s anatomy and supported her comfort and recovery every step of the way.”

While that work was underway, Dr. Betsy, a Disney ASE veterinarian, partnered with Dr. Caryn Plummer from the University of Florida to map out the operation. Cataract surgery has been performed on white rhinos before, but it remains an incredibly complex procedure.

All of that preparation paid off. According to Dr. Betsy, the successful surgery “raised the bar for what’s possible in veterinary care.”

You might wonder why Disney invested so much time, money, and effort into a 27-year-old rhino. The easy answer is because they can. The better answer is because Kendi matters.

White rhinos are an endangered species, and Kendi is part of an important breeding population at Animal Kingdom. The knowledge gained from her surgery won’t just help one rhino in Central Florida. It has the potential to benefit animals in zoos and conservation programs around the world.

It’s also worth remembering that white rhinos can live up to 50 years in captivity. At 27, Kendi is still young and vital. Today, she’s back on the Animal Kingdom savanna, getting a much clearer look at all of us gawking from those Kilimanjaro Safaris trucks.