The controversial orca programme at Loro Parque is entering a new generation. On Monday morning, Morgan, a female orca, gave birth to a healthy male calf in Puerto de la Cruz on Tenerife.
The zoo on the northern Canary Islands announced that the birth had taken place naturally and that the baby orca was born at 5 o’clock. The mother and calf are in excellent health and the birth took place in the presence of several keepers, the zoo added.
The mother and calf have been separated from the other orcas at Loro Parque so that they can get used to each other in peace and quiet to begin with, the zoo added.
Orca calf at Loro Parque on Tenerife
The orca calf’s development will be closely monitored over the coming months. This is necessary as complications can arise, particularly during the first few months of life. The priority is to strengthen the young orca’s immune system.
„Every birth at Loro Parque is special, but the birth of a killer whale is particularly significant,“ said Wolfgang Kiessling, the director of the zoo in Puerto de la Cruz. Kiessling has not yet announced a name, however.
Orcas at Loro Parque on Tenerife are a controversial issue
Morgan, the orca mother, arrived at Loro Parque on Tenerife in 2010. The orca had become stranded off the Dutch coast. It later emerged that Morgan is deaf. Loro Parque has since been using visual cues to communicate with the orca.
Animal rights activists have criticised the keeping of large whales in captivity. A partnership with Sea World in the USA came to an end after the orca programme there was shut down due to public pressure.
New calf ensures a new generation of orcas for Loro Parque
At the time, Loro Parque was taken by surprise by the end of the partnership. However, with the birth of the calf, the park has now produced its own offspring, which has dampened the hopes of many animal rights activists for a natural end to the keeping of whales in captivity.
Orca Keto had died as recently as November. It was the fourth death in three years at Loro Parque’s „Orca Ocean“ on Tenerife.
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