to make sure everyone was safe . They got some incredible footage , and I loved seeing the excitement at the end of a long day of filming . The animal care team did really well ; some of us hate being in front of a camera , and others love it . Luckily we had enough folks who love it and are proud to share what they do here .
A candid moment with the elephants . PHOTO BY BRETT SVENSON
Can you tell us a bit about what it ' s been like working with the National Geographic team on the Magic of Disney ’ s Animal Kingdom ? Feel free to reveal any bloopers , awkward moments , or challenges .
The Nat Geo experience was amazing ; it was a pleasure working with such a professional group of people . They split into four separate teams to capture footage at several different locations at Walt Disney World , and they all had to wear keeper costumes so as not to be unfamiliar to the animals . They had tons of camera equipment and made it all look so easy .
They showed a lot of patience too . Animals don ’ t always do what you expect them to do , and we had all agreed that we wouldn ’ t do anything just for the cameras — the cameras were there to capture things we were doing . Safety was a top priority during the filming .
Many of our animals are extremely dangerous , and one has to be constantly mindful of our safety protocols . We had zoological managers present at all times
The keeper and veterinarian teams at WDW are seldom seen — but do such dedicated work . Many of the keepers on Magic of Disney ’ s Animal Kingdom appear to have long-lasting relationships with the animals . Can you speak to the importance of these relationships ?
In our profession , those relationships are as important as any other element of what we do . We want our animals to thrive here , and we work hard to make sure that each individual animal has a team of keepers who can build a relationship of trust with that animal . When an animal trusts the keeper , it is calm , curious , relaxed , and it feels comfortable doing its normal range of behaviors . That helps us tremendously when we need to do health checks or examine an animal with an injury .
With the relationship of trust , we can do physical exams , blood draws , and various tests and procedures to help those animals and even have them participate in their own medical care . We have to build a relationship of trust with the animal without compromising our safety or the safety of the animal . We usually start off with one keeper being the point person , but that person ’ s job is to have