At Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the Animal Care team knows our animals so well that even the smallest change can speak volumes. So, when keepers began noticing a slight cloudiness in the right eye of Kendi, a 27-year-old white rhino who has called the park home her entire life, they spotted it right away. The change was subtle, but to the veterinarians who perform Kendi’s routine wellness exams, it was worth paying close attention to.
For a rhino of Kendi’s size, vision – along with her strong sense of smell and hearing – plays an important role in how she moves through her environment, finds food, and interacts with her world.
Those quiet signals prompted her care team to take a closer look. Through careful observation and the trust built over years of daily care, veterinarians identified the issue early: cataracts, a condition that clouds the eye lens and can lead to blindness if left untreated.
What came next would mark an extraordinary milestone in animal care.
A Rare and Highly Complex Procedure
Surgically removing a cataract in a white rhino is exceptionally rare and highly complex, requiring extensive planning, innovation, and collaboration. Dr. Betsy, a veterinarian with Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment, has been involved in every step of the preparation process.
“I’ve planned for this one procedure more than any other in my life,” said Dr. Betsy. “It’s been one of the most rewarding moments of my career. The level of innovation pushed us to think differently – and ultimately raised the bar for what’s possible in veterinary care.”
The first stage of preparing for this procedure was no small undertaking. For several years, the husbandry team worked around the clock to train Kendi for voluntary eye drops.
Through patience and trust-based care, Kendi became comfortable with the routine of receiving this essential medication up to four times a day. That dedication and preparation proved invaluable when the time finally came to perform the surgery in the rhino barn.
Dr. Betsy partnered with an ophthalmologist from the University of Florida (UF) — one of Disney’s long-standing collaborative veterinary partners — to design a procedure that adapted advanced veterinary surgical techniques to one of the world’s largest land mammals.
“It was truly an honor to be part of Kendi’s care. While cataract surgery is routine in humans, performing this type of procedure on an animal — especially one as large as a white rhino — presents extraordinary challenges,” said Dr. Caryn Plummer, ophthalmologist with the University of Florida.
“In Kendi’s case, the potential to restore her vision made every complexity worth navigating. This effort would not have been possible without the dedicated veterinary and animal care team at Disney, whose teamwork, professionalism, and unwavering commitment to Kendi’s safety were essential every step of the way. We’re hopeful that improved sight will make a meaningful difference in Kendi’s quality of life.”
The surgery was a success, but the care didn’t stop there.
A Uniquely Disney Approach to Healing
Kendi’s recovery from the successful surgery called for continuous monitoring and creative solutions. In a true cross functional collaboration, Disney’s costuming team worked for two years to design and craft a custom, specially tailored protective eye mask.
This one-of-a-kind piece of aftercare equipment helped protect her healing eye while also allowing the necessary post-operative eye drop treatments.
“This was definitely outside the scope of what our team is usually asked to do,” said Tracy, a costuming manager. “But nothing about this project was ordinary. We worked closely with the Animal Care teams to design a fully custom solution – one that suited Kendi’s anatomy and supported her comfort and recovery every step of the way.”
This collaborative spirit was a reminder for everyone that caring for animals at Disney is never one dimensional. Whether they are veterinarians, keepers, designers, or engineers, people from across the company bring their talents together when it matters most.
Kendi’s recovery is about more than restoring sight to one animal — it’s about protecting a species.
White rhinos are near threatened in the wild, and protecting the health and wellbeing of individuals like Kendi helps support the broader work of species conservation, including work supported by the Disney Conservation Fund that protects wildlife like rhinos and their habitats in Africa and Asia.
Kendi’s journey is an inspiring opportunity to educate and connect. For the veterinary community, Dr. Betsy and Dr. Plummer plan to share the surgical technique and key learnings, so rhinos around the world may benefit. For families and children, Kendi’s story shows how caring for one animal can help inspire the protection of wildlife around the world.
Today, Kendi is back on the savanna at Animal Kingdom with clearer vision and renewed confidence. Her story highlights what can happen when teams work closely together and bring thoughtful, creative solutions to the table, all grounded in science and a deep commitment to animals in our care.
