All the animals are absolutely real. We have been on this ride a number of times in the past 8 years and have always seen them different. I also get email updates on the births of few of the animals. The last time we were on the ride last week, there was a rhino standing still then another rhino came up behind him a little too fast for his liking and started to run. Well his runs was a lot like a charge at the end of our vehicle, even the driver got a bit of a shock