Which Disney theme park honors Goodall with a Tree of Life plaque?

Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the Disney theme park that honors Jane Goodall with a Tree of Life plaque.

The tribute is associated with the park’s 145-foot Tree of Life, a sculpted baobab that stands on Discovery Island at Walt Disney World in Florida. The tree is not a living baobab; it is a massive artificial structure whose trunk and roots are covered with carvings of hundreds of animal species.

Goodall served as a consultant during the park’s development. She urged the designers to include a chimpanzee, and a carving of David Greybeard was added. David Greybeard was the chimpanzee whose calm approach helped Goodall gain acceptance among the wild chimpanzees she studied at Gombe in Tanzania.

The park opened on April 22, 1998, and the Tree of Life became its central icon. Visitors sometimes confuse the tribute with another Disney park because Disneyland Park, Magic Kingdom, and Epcot are also major Disney destinations. The Goodall connection, however, belongs specifically to Animal Kingdom’s conservation-focused setting.