ANIMAL
KINGDOM

TOURING
Attraction Seating
   Photo Gallery
Basic Services
Calendar of Events
Character Meet and
   Greet FAQ
Extra Magic Hour
FASTPASS
Fun Facts
Guide Map
Kennels
Operating Hours
Overlooked Attractions
Reader Tips
Rehabs and Closures
Restaurant Photo Gallery
Ride Restrictions
Smoking Policy
Special Needs Travelers
--Animal Kingdom
    in a Wheelchair
Ticket FAQ

WDW At Large

AT A GLANCE...
Animal Species by Area
Attractions
Restaurants
Characters
Shopping

THE OASIS
Place of Transition Part I
Place of Transition Part II

DISCOVERY ISLAND
The Tree of Life
It's Tough to be a Bug
Discovery Island Trails

CAMP MINNIE-MICKEY
Festival of the Lion King
Character Greeting
   Trails

AFRICA
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Pangani Forest
   Exploration Trail

RAFIKI'S PLANET WATCH

ASIA
Expedition EVEREST
Flights of Wonder
Kali River Rapids
Maharajah Jungle Trek

DINOLAND U.S.A.
Dinosaur
The Boneyard
Dino-Sue
Chester and Hester's
   Dino-Rama
   --Primeval Whirl
   --Triceratop Spin
Finding Nemo: The Musical

ENTERTAINMENT
Mickey's Jammin'
   Jungle Parade
Mickey's JINGLE Jungle Parade
DiVine
Live Entertainment

Special Reports
New Babies at AK!

African Comb Duck
Asian Tigers
Baby African Elephants
Capybara
Giraffe
Nile Hippopotamus
Okapi
West African Crownded Crane
Photo Essays
Gorillas
Faces
Hidden Mickeys
Park Details

ALL EARS®
Feature Articles
-- Animal Kingdom Turns 10
-- Animal Kingdom Turns 5
-- Kaleidoscopic Kingdoms
-- Other Side of Animal Kingdom

TOURS
-- Back Stage Safari
-- Wild by Design

ARCHIVES
Pocahontas and Her
   Forest Friends - Closed 9/27/08
Tarzan Rocks! Closed 1/06
Journey into the Jungle Book
Closed 4/99
Lucky the Dinosaur May-July 2005
March of the Artimals Closed 6/99
Radio Disney River Cruise aka
Discovery River Taxi aka
Discovery RiverBoat Ride aka
Discovery River Boats - Retired 1999
Walk Around Artimals
Pre-Opening Guide Map

OTHER THEME PARKS
Disney's Hollywood
   Studios
Epcot
Magic Kingdom

Disneyland
Disney's California
    Adventure

The Discovery Island Trails are the best kept secret that you'll find on the Animal Kingdom Guide map.

These are beautifully vegetated paths and trails around the base of the Tree of Life that contain small animal viewing areas. Here you will find small animal viewing areas for lemurs, kangaroos, capybaras and other wildlife.

When the park opens in the morning, take time to explore the area and watch the animals. While everyone else is rushing off to get FastPasses or heading towards the Safari....you'll have a wonderful quiet time all to yourself!

Deb's Notes:

"We decided to explore the Tree of Life Gardens, oh wait, they are now called the Discovery Island Gardens (this change occurred in the last few months). What an incredible time we had. Staying at DAKL gave us a better appreciation of just sitting and watching the animals and so we did that on this particular morning.

The Giant Galapagos Tortoise gave us an incredible show for about 20 minutes. It was his feeding time and we watched as he slowly (and I mean slowly) climbed out of the small pond and lumbered over to a bed of fresh lettuce greens, carrots, sweet potatoes and apples (we are guessing what the food was).

We took over 100 photos of him with the digital camera. The more I use and learn about my Cannon G-1, the happier I am with the purchase. We tried different shots, using both regular zoom and the digital 2x and 4x Zoom.

I actually had tears in my eyes at one point, I can't explain why...except that we felt so fortunate to have this long audience with the Tortoise all to ourselves. This is one of the big reasons why Animal Kingdom is so special to me!

This is just one of the many discoveries awaiting you along the Discovery Island Trails. There are others just waiting for you........

Abdim's Stork
Asian Small-clawed Otter
Axis Deer
Blue & Yellow Macaw
Cape Teal
Comb Duck
Eyton's Tree Duck
Galapagos Tortoise
Greater Flamingo
Grey Kangaroo
Green-winged Macaw
Red Kangaroo
Ring-tailed Lemur
Roseate Spoonbill
Saddle-billed Stork
Salmon-crested Cockatoo
Silver Teal
West African Crowned Crane
White Stork
White Faced Whistling Duck
Woolynecked Stork

Other Information

The Discovery Island Trails were originally called the Tree of Life Gardens and then the Discovery Island Gardens.

Archives (no longer part of Animal Kingdom)

Capybara - the largest living rodent in existence. One was laying out in the sun, sleeping. The other was enjoying the shade back in a sheltered area. The digital camera really showed its stuff here and you can see the regular, 2x and 4x zoom of the same photo.

Capybara are semi-aquatic and native to South America. They are most active in the early morning and evening; although some can be quite nocturnal. They live 8 - 10 years in the wild and are herbivores. The capybara will dive into the water to escape the Jaguar, it's predator!