We Dare You Not to Smile While Looking at These Photos of Disney World Gorillas

The wildlife at Disney’s Animal Kingdom (as well as throughout the parks) have lives very similar to ours.

They get to have special things, they celebrate big occasions, and they even have birthday parties. So now that the holiday season has arrived, they get to do something we all get to do: unwrap presents.

Ahead of the holiday season, Disney decided to give its gorillas their presents early. The western lowland gorilla family troop at Animal Kingdom was given presents in boxes, all wrapped up just like the presents under our Christmas trees.

Inside were some of their favorite foods like oats, popcorn, alfalfa, hay, currents, carrots, and more. But these presents serve another purpose: it encourages them to behave in their natural behaviors as foragers. So they get to do something they might do in the wild: search for their favorite snacks.

Not only do the gorillas get a special gift, but this kind of animal enrichment helps them do what they do what they would do if they lived in the wild. It also gives the animal care team an idea of how these animals are doing both mentally and physically.

You’ve probably seen some of these enrichment “gifts” on The Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom on Disney+. These enrichment items also include a frozen warthog structure that was given to lions…

…a motorized ball given to cheetahs…

…and a Christmas tree made of snacks for cotton-top tamarins.

So if you ever visit Animal Kingdom and see one of these things, you’ll know that it’s the Disney animal care team doing their best to make sure that these animals have full and enriching lives. Happy holidays to the animals of Disney World!

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