Move aside Flight of Passage, there’s a NEW main draw at Animal Kingdom…at least temporarily. Crowds are flocking to see Bakso the tiger cub!

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Over the last 15 years or so, Animal Kingdom has become best known for massive new attractions like Expedition Everest, Pandora: The World of Avatar, and the upcoming Tropical Americas expansion. However, at its heart, the park is still dedicated to animals, as exemplified by the excitement for Bakso, the new tiger cub who was born this past October and recently went on limited public display as part of the park’s Maharajah Jungle Trek attraction.

Bakso, a Sumatran tiger, was born to Sohni in September, the first of its species to be born at the park in 7 years. Mother and child joined the public-facing portion of the Maharajah Jungle Trek on January 29th, and crowds have been MASSIVE with guests desperate to see the new tiger.

Crowds!

After checking with a Cast Member who advised us that the best times to see Bakso would likely be sometime between park opening and roughly 10:30 AM, we decided our best chance to see the new kitty would be to rope drop the walkthrough attraction at its 9 AM open.

Lines were long early!

We recently took our shot and arrived at the park early. Rope drop lines for the trek, as we’d anticipated were large, and Cast Members were out in force warning guests that there was no guarantee that Bakso would be out and visible. Of note, as the line grew, they were also advising guests that they could also return between 1 PM and 3:00 PM to check if the cub was out.

Mom and child

The specific dedicated line to view the tiger was through the exit of the Trek, near the entrance of Kali River Rapids. We waited about an hour, but it was so worth it to see this adorable creature!

Adorable!

As adorable as Bakso is, his birth also had a potentially major impact on his species. As a specialist identified as Dr. Natalie (one of many animal care professionals who monitored Sohni throughout her three-month pregnancy) explained in a DisneyParksBlog article shortly after Bakso’s birth, “Tigers are in steep decline in the wild, so it is very special to welcome a new baby here at Disney, the first in seven years. Tiger births are rare in managed care and take a lot of planning and coordinating by our animal care team and the Species Survival Plan.”

Playtime?

Bakso, Animal Kingdom’s newest — and arguably most adorable tiger cub — has gone on public display in the park’s Maharajah Jungle Trek attraction, however, you may need to time things just right to see him! Stay tuned to DFB for more on Animal Kingdom’s latest addition.

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Are you excited to see Bakso? Let us know in the comments below!