Over the past several months we’ve been keeping you informed about the rehabilitation of oil spill affected sea turtles that Walt Disney World had taken in for treatment. Animal care experts have been working hard to nurse 32 sea turtles back to health & ultimately develop their strength so they can go back to swimming in the open ocean. Disney is reporting that the animals are responding well to treatment & all of their initial veterinary examinations have been completed.
“The animals are doing quite well,” said Andy Deneault, an assistant curator responsible for the care of sea turtles at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. “Once we received these animals, we immediately put them on a regimented diet to build their strength. We also keep the sea turtles in special shallow salt-water pools set up just for this effort.” (-WDW Public Affairs)
Two of the most endangered species of sea turtles, the Kemp’s Ridley & Green turtles, are represented in this group that Disney is hoping to release back into the wild after successful treatment. Walt Disney World is a licensed wildlife rehabilitation center; the Disney Animal Programs support the rescue and rehabilitation of more than 1,000 injured and orphaned wild animals each year. Since 1986, Disney animal care teams have nursed more than 250 endangered sea turtles back to health.
