#loro parque spain
Gender:Male
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at Loro Parque, Spain
Date of Capture: Born October 13, 2010
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: Loro Parque, Spain
On October 13, 2010, the captive-born female Kohana gave birth to her first calf at Loro Parque in Spain; a male named Adán sired by the captive-born male Keto.
Unfortunately, due to her being separated from her own mother at such a young age, Kohana never learned how to properly care for a calf and rejected Adán immediately. This resulted in staff having to hand-rear Adán, despite the abysmal failure of hand-reared captive calves in the past.
In addition to his mother rejecting him, Keto is not only Adán’s father, but he is also Kohana’s uncle; meaning that Adán is inbred and making him the second inbred calf in captivity.
As he’s grown, Adán seems to be progressing well, but due to the instability of Loro Parque’s social structure, he has sometimes been raked and displaced by the older whales. Kohana can be placed with Adán but does not play a maternal role to him. Adán was the first whale to be introduced to Morgan when she arrived in 2011 and the two seem to get along well; eventually, Adán was introduced to all of the other whales as well.
In August 2012, Kohana gave birth to her second calf by Keto; this time a female named Victoria, or Vicky for short. Once again, Kohana rejected her calf immediately and Vicky had to be hand-reared like her older brother. Adán and Vicky spent some time together and got along well. Unfortunately, Vicky died in June 2013 just 2 months shy of her first birthday.
Many people have also expressed concern over Adán and his health, as pictures taken at the park show he often looks sickly and has poor body condition.
Today, Adán is 4 years old and remains at Loro Parque where he participates in shows but otherwise spends most of his time with Tekoa and Morgan.
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Gender:Female
Pod: Norwegian P pod (?)
Place of Capture: Wadden Sea, Netherlands
Date of Capture: June 23, 2010
Age at Capture: Approx. 3 years
Current Location: Loro Parque Tenerife, Spain
On June 23, 2010, a fisherman spotted a very ill young Orca swimming in the Wadden Sea off the coast of the Netherlands. A team from the Dolphinarium Harderwijk rescued her and brought her to their facility where they administered emergency medical treatment for extreme starvation as well as dehydration, and she was named Morgan.
The permit they were granted for her rescue also detailed that she was to be released as soon as possible. However, the Dolphinarium claimed that Morgan’s family could not be located, and so release would be impossible.
Many organizations, including the Free Morgan Foundation, continued advocating for her release and in 2011, released a report showing that 77.7% of Morgans call types were matched to Norwegian P pod, meaning that a release was, indeed, a possiblity.
However, due to the small size of the tank at Dolphinarium Harderwijk, they began searching for a new facility for her to stay at; though her stay at the Dolphinarium was extended a whole year due to lengthy court battles. Eventually, the court ruled that Morgan was to be moved to a new facility, resulting in her move to Loro Parque in Spain.
Upon her arrival, Morgan was introduced to Adán and Skyla. Eventually, she was introduced to the oldest female, Kohana, and the parks older males, Tekoa and Keto. In 2012, Loro Parque announced that Morgan is partially deaf and “barely responds” to whistle cues; but can be seen in YouTube videos performing behaviors, and often responding to whistle cues immediately.
While activists continued the legal fight to try and release Morgan, New Zealand Orca researcher, Dr. Ingrid Visser, visited Loro Parque in June 2012 and documented multiple instances of aggression directed mainly towards Morgan. Visser photographed Morgan self-mutilating by banging her head against tank walls and chewing on the concrete. Photographs from Visser also show Morgan being attacked relentlessly by Kohana and Skyla. Morgan has also sometimes been locked in a tank alone with Keto, who is extremely sexually aggressive toward Morgan and will consistently chase her around the tank in an attempt to penetrate her.
Unfortunately, on April 23, 2014, after yet another lengthy court battle, the Council of State ruled that Morgan’s transfer to Loro Parque was legal. They also ruled that since her family had not been located and Morgan was very young, it was unclear if Morgan could survive if she were to be released. For the time being, Morgan is to remain at Loro Parque while activists attempt to come up with a new plan for her.
Today, Morgan is approximately 8 years old and remains at Loro Parque where she progresses in her training every day and has even begun performing in shows.
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Gender:Female
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at SeaWorld of Florida
Date of Capture: Born February 9, 2004
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: Loro Parque Tenerife, Spain
On February 9, 2004, the captive born female Kalina gave birth to her fifth calf at SeaWorld Orlando; a female named Skyla sired by the Icelandic male Tilikum. While Skyla was close with her mother, she also became very close with her half-siblings Ikaika and Kohana.
However, in February of 2006, when Skyla was just 2 years old, she was moved with Kohana, Keto, and Tekoa to Loro Parque in Spain. Because they were all very young at the time, none of them ever learned how a pod’s social structure works; nor did Kohana or Skyla learn proper mothering skills. Due to the lack of stability at the park, there have been countless aggressive incidents between the whales at the park.
In the spring of 2009, Skyla began pushing a trainer around the pool and up against the wall during a show. As a result, limitations on waterwork and a mandate that only senior trainers work with her was put in place. Since this incident, no other altercations between Skyla and her trainers have been reported.
Today, Skyla is 11 years old and remains at Loro Parque, performing shows daily with the other whales.
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Gender:Female
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at SeaWorld of California
Date of Capture: Born on May 3, 2002
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: Loro Parque Tenerife, Spain
On May 3, 2002, captive born female Takara gave birth to her first calf at SeaWorld San Diego, a female named Kohana sired by the Icelandic male Tilikum via Artificial Insemination. Kohana would become the second captive Orca ever to be born through AI.
Takara and Kohana became inseparable. At first Kohana was shy, compared to her mother who would often spend time interacting with guests through the underwater viewing, but became more open and playful around the time she was a year old. In 2004, when Kohana was 2 years old, she and Takara were both moved to the Orlando park where Kohana met some of her half-siblings.
However, in February 2006 when Kohana was just 3 years old, she was moved to Loro Parque in Spain with three other closely-related young whales known as Skyla, Keto, and Tekoa. Being the oldest female at the park, Kohana often shows dominance over the others, but with a lack of an experienced matriarch, the social structure at Loro Parque is unstable and often results in aggression between the whales.
In October 2010, Kohana gave birth to her first calf at just 8 years old, a male named Adán sired by Keto, who is also Kohana’s uncle. Unfortunately, due to being separated from her mother at such a young age, Kohana never learned necessary maternal skills and rejected Adán immediately, paying no mind to her new calf. This resulted in staff having to bottle-feed Adán, despite the abysmal failure of hand-raised captive calves in the past. Soon enough, Adán was introduced to the other whales and reintroduced to his mother. They all get along, but Kohana plays no maternal role to him.
In August 2012, Kohana gave birth to her second calf, a female named Victoria - Vicky for short - also sired by her uncle Keto. Once again, Kohana rejected Vicky immediately, and reportedly became aggressive towards her, forcing staff to separate the pair and hand-raise Vicky as well. For a short while, Vicky was reportedly doing well, but took a turn for the worse and died in June 2013 at just 11 months old.
Today, Kohana is 13 years old and still resides at Loro Parque, acting as the dominant female despite her inexperience.
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Gender:Male
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at SeaWorld of Florida
Date of Capture: Born on November 8, 2000
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: Loro Parque, Spain
On November 8, 2000, captive born female Taima gave birth to her second calf, a male named Tekoa sired by the Icelandic male Tilikum.
Taima was a good mother for the most part, but after some months, began displaying aggression towards Tekoa like she did with her first son, Sumar. This resulted in the pair being separated, and after various unsuccessful attempts at reuniting the pair, they were separated permanently.
However, the captive born female Kalina, who had just given birth to a calf of her own, a male named Tuar, took it upon herself to care for Tekoa. The two calves became close friends until they were both moved to the Texas park in April 2004 where they met many new whales.
In February 2006, Tekoa was moved to Loro Parque in Spain with 3 other young whales; Skyla, Keto, and Kohana. Tekoa is one of the more submissive whales at the park, and can often be seen with rake marks covering his body.
On October 6, 2007, Tekoa was involved in an incident with trainer Claudia Vollhardt. It was reported that Tekoa crashed into Vollhardt before dragging her down. He then proceeded to grab her arm, bringing her down again before bringing her to the surface. Two fellow trainers were able to pull her from the water, but not before she suffered several serious injuries including two breaks to one of her forearms and injuries to her right lung. After this incident, certain protocols were put in place that restricted what trainers could do with Tekoa.
Today, Tekoa is 14 years old and still remains at Loro Parque.
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