Trust Us. It’s Worth a Trip to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge Just for This New Announcement

There’s just something extra magical about the animals we see at Disney World.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House

It’s no secret that we are all obsessed with Disney ducks (not Donald, but his real fine feathered friends that often interrupt parades). We love visiting the aquarium in EPCOT. We also love taking a ride on Kilimanjaro Safaris in Disney’s Animal Kingdom to see the animals on the savanna. Baby animals are born often in Disney World, but recently, a rare baby soon found its way into the world.

Disney recently shared the ULTIMATE Mother’s Day story. An addax named Juniper has given birth to her very first calf, Julien, who will soon join the herd at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. Juniper’s story is one of hope: she was born in 2021, but her mother passed away during birth. Disney’s animal care experts stepped in and raised her and now she has a healthy baby of her own.

This is a huge deal because the addax is nearly extinct: there are less than 100 left in the wild and just over 180 in managed care across the world. Baby Julien adds another to their numbers. He stands at about two feet tall and already has a head full of hair. He’s also very cute.

Julien’s name is a combination of his mom and dad’s name, Juniper and Allen, who are part of the herd at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Disney World is just one of 21 Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited institutions that have addax in its care.

Addax are a species of antelope known for their curly horns — calves are even born with their horns. They are so rare that one of the only other places to spot them other than the Saharan desert in Africa is Animal Kingdom Lodge. So, if you’ve spotted these animals there, you’ve seen a rare sight!