All right, I'll admit to using clickbait tactics for attention with that title, but hear me out. The poachers to which I refer are the ones formerly of Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney's Animal Kingdom. If you had ever gone on a trek on Simba-1 before late 2012, the names Big Red and Little Red are probably familiar to you. In fact, these names are still in the queue on a poster at the main office, but that is the only reference of which I am aware to the previous storyline of the attraction.
On Animal Kingdom's opening day in 1998, Kilimanjaro Safaris included a story featuring Big Red and Little Red, a mother elephant and her calf. During the attraction, your safari vehicle was radioed by the chief warden, who informed you that Big Red had been shot and injured, and Little Red had been taken by the poachers. What followed was a (relatively) high speed chase through rough terrain, where you saw the poachers camp, full of weapons and ivory, were fired on by the poachers as you pursued them, and finally, and, finally, were greeted by another warden, holding a gun at the driver of the poachers' vehicle, out of which an animatronic Little Red waved his trunk in thanks. This version of the events was a slight departure from the originally intended storyline, which had a much darker ending, where Big Red does not survive the poacher attack and you come across her butchered body. Obviously, Disney ultimately decided that this was far too dark of an ending, but thankfully they didn't throw out the baby with the bath water. In fact, there are still some fairly gruesome images on the television screens in the queue, showing the corpses of animals who were victims of poaching. In the late 2000's, however, changes began to arrive at Kilimanjaro Safaris. There were no longer radio communications from the reserve's chief warden, Wilson, and the big chase was reduced to finding a missing baby elephant. In this version (or at least, the iteration I recall), you do come across a poacher camp, but it's more of a casual mention than something directly linked to the disappearance of Little Red. In 2012, the entire Little Red storyline was dropped. The areas that had previously been part of the chase sequence were renovated and became part of a new zebra exhibit. While I was unable to find any indication as to why Disney decided to make these changes to the attraction, I would imagine that it was the result of the scenes were somewhat scary and potentially disturbing to younger guests, who probably had gotten on the ride to just look at the animals in a facsimile of their natural environment. I find it extremely unfortunate, however, that these scenes were removed. I know I'm writing this article a few years too late, and might sound like I'm just complaining like an old man on a porch, but this change was rather important to me, and still is. The theme of Disney's Animal Kingdom is not just animals, it's about conservation of the environment as a whole, and raising awareness of poaching in Africa is extremely important in the scheme of conservation. While it's true that they still show gruesome images of this crime against nature in the preshow videos along the queue, guests can quite easily ignore those and carry on with their day. When the realities of poaching were an integral part of the story, it was something that guests had to face. These beautiful creatures that they just enjoyed looking at in a 100% poacher free environment are, in fact, halfway around the world, being hunted to extinction. I do think that Disney made the correct decision in their early development of the attraction by removing the scene featuring the dead Big Red, as that likely would have turned a great deal of people off from visiting. At this point in time, though, they finally caught up with the aforementioned bath water, and pitched the baby out, as well. I believe that showing the dangers that these animals face, just for the sake of turning a profit, is extremely important, and something that children and adults should be aware of. The less intense version of the ending gives people hope that there is something to be done to improve the situation for animals, and I'm sure that it inspired its fair share of people to research and participate in ways they may not have realized they could put an end to the problem of poaching. That said, the issue of poaching is still addressed on Kilimanjaro Safaris, particularly in the area with the nearly extinct black rhino. The only difference now is that this doesn't simulate any kind of "experience" that sticks in your mind. So next time you take a trip on Simba-1, be sure to take a moment to remember Big Red and Little Red, and the lessons on poaching and conservation that they taught us in the past.
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