Walt Disney World celebrates Mother's Day with birth of rare antelope

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Walt Disney World is celebrating Mother’s Day with the birth of a rare antelope that you could see when visiting.

The 2-month-old addax named Julien and his mom Juniper are doing well and will soon join the rest of the herd of antelope on the savannah at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.

"Juniper and Julian are doing amazing. They're living behind the scenes right now. Still trying to figure out as a first-time mom exactly what she's supposed to be doing," said Lindsay Cooper, an Animal Keeper at Disney. "Julian is, of course, exploring and trying to figure out the addax life."

The addax is a species of antelope known for its curly horns. They are a critically endangered species with less than 100 left in the wild. The animal care team at Walt Disney World is working to help increase the population with births like Julien. He’s the first male calf born at the resort.

"For Julian to be a representative of his species here, where guests are going to be able to come and see him and Juniper out on the savannah. It's really a great opportunity to be able to connect guests with these animals that they may not necessarily ever get a chance to see in their lifetime," said Cooper.

Juniper is a new mother. She was born at the park in 2021 and her life hasn’t been easy. Her mother sadly died from natural complications during childbirth.

"She was born and was not able to nurse from her mother. She suffered from a condition called failure, passive transfer, where she didn't get that important first mother's milk, and needed to have a plasma transfusion," said Dr. Deidre Karen Fontenot, a veterinarian with Walt Disney World.

"We have a lot of mothers and fathers on our health team and our veterinarians, so it's hard to not have that personal connection and have it really pull the heartstrings when you see Juniper, who’s had such a great journey and her health to really be able to come full circle," said Dr. Fontenot.

Juniper is a fighter and now a mother too, raising, protecting, and neutering her little baby.

"Thinking about how Juniper started out in life without a mother, and now she is a mother. In fact, on Mother's Day, it's a really exciting time for all of us," said Cooper. "Just celebrating Juniper and where she started and now where she's at, like, our team just couldn't be more proud of her. Oh, my gosh, that's amazing."