Thanks for all the updates on Chimelong Jambo! I highly doubt that Katenka is pregnant as Mike Burn, the current head trainer at Ocean Kingdom, is very against pregnant females performing slide out behaviors which lead to issues with the calf during pregnancy. Most likely she is just putting on a little weight as the transients are known to be chunkier in general.
Killer Whale Population Updates:
Marineland Antibes: Inouk is recovering well from his ailment and has started high energy behaviors again along with participating in shows due to his lethargy going away. His coloration also seems to be coming back which is a great sign of recovery. The move to Japan is still on at the moment with the whales leaving in March of 2024. Marineland is trying to export the whales no matter the case due to the serious financial issues they are currently facing so I highly doubt it will ever be called off as members have speculated.
Mundo Marino: After receiving so much international backlash and criticism, Mundo Marino seems to have finally stepped up their care for Kshamenk and he is starting to gain his weight back with a better diet. His peanut head is almost completely gone and he is doing high energy behaviors again compared to a couple months ago where he could barely accomplish a pec wave and other low-energy behaviors. However he is still not out of the woods yet. Mundo Marino has started feeding ground up fish in circular shapes as it is cheaper than normal fish but it severely lacks the nutrients he needs for survival. The stadium as well is starting to go into disrepair with walls starting to crumble and crack, rust forming, and paint chipping off. As well he is still showing signs of lethargy with logging behavior or other sedentary acts being demonstrated when he is not performing. Hopefully he can continue well on his recovery and Mundo Marino will keep stepping up and providing the care he desperately needs.
Moskvarium: Naja’s pregnancy seems to be progressing well with no major updates coming out of the aquarium recently. I am pleasantly surprised with how open Moskvarium has been surrounding the pregnancy and plans for the future and if all goes well there should be a calf born sometime next month.
Shanghai Ocean Park: Dora’s pregnancy seems to be going smoothly and she should be due any day now if all goes well. It appears Cookie is not pregnant as some suspected.
Abuse at Loro Parque:
I figured since many people were questioning why most cetacean facilities have such strong opinions on Loro Parque I would explain the whole situation. The main issue with Loro Parque revolves around diet. An inspection done by a member of the IAAAM found that 17 cetaceans had digestive issues including delayed digestion, full stomachs, enlarged pyloric stomachs, enlarged intestinal loops, inflammation, liver inflammation, and ascites. One of the dolphins showed a severe case of intermittent partial ileus and transient intussusception. Multiple dolphins and orcas had pericardial effusion, pleural involvement, and bronchopneumonia along with almost every individual suffering from strong periportal cuffing which lead most to inflammatory bowel disease. These dietary problems lead to sclerosing cholangitis forming in Skyla and was what eventually killed her. The worst case of dietary issues at Loro Parque was with poor Ula. After Ula was separated from Morgan due to issues with Morgan’s milk production, Ula was put on a severely improper diet that led to her eventual death. Throughout her short life she suffered from severe fluid-filled dilated bowel loops, weight loss, and constant regurgitation. Loro Parque created these problems which would not have occurred otherwise by means of a full-fish diet for her first couple years of life. Loro Parque has all their cetaceans on a full herring diet leading to a severe lack of nutritional elements the whales and dolphins need to survive and improper rations for each individual. As time went on, Loro Parque thought it would be a good idea to reduce the volume of food Ula was intaking. Well this just like her original diet was a mistake and poor Ula began to develop severe ascites along the conditions already listed worsening. She began to develop pneumatosis and mucosal integrity loss. Her ascites developed septation and adhesion began to form. A severe gastrointestinal issue formed as air bubbles formed in her liver. Ula’s condition got so bad that she was very unresponsive and apathetic leading Loro Parque to decide to withhold all food from her and only give her an electrolyte solution for hydration. When she began to show interest in food again Loro Parque decided to introduce fish gruel as her primary diet. Well what do you know but this leads to sludge formation and reduced motility, extreme vomiting and regurgitation, as well as mesenteric vein enlargement and digestive tract issues. Now at this stage after so much mismanagement with her diet, Ula’s intestines started to twist and inflammation in her blood and rapid weight loss occurred. Her ascites became hyper-echoic and she developed peritonitis. After these conditions worsened, Ula passed away on August 10, 2021 after spending her entire life in pain. A necropsy was performed and Ula had complete mesenteric torsion with nine loops and chronic inflammatory processes in the digestive system, as well as fibrosis in her portal system. Her death and life long suffering was completely the result of mismanagement and improper care by Loro Parque. So now you might understand why a facility like Marinlenad Antibes who is desperate to get rid of their killer whales would not even send them to Loro Parque. Ula was not the first nor the last case of a death due to Loro Parque’s mismanagement. Kohana's death was a result of volvulus, infectious endocarditis, and necrotizing bronchopneumonia. Skyla as I mentioned above died from torsion due to an improper diet. Victoria passed away as well from similar issues. It is obscured that every single death of a Killer Whale at Loro Parque could have been prevented and was instead caused by the facilities own mismanagement and improper care of Killer Whales. And that is why Loro Parque is known as one of the worst facilities and why parks like Marineland would never send their whales away to such an awful place. This mismanagement is as well one of the reasons SeaWorld left its partnership with Loro Parque as the care standards are so bad they are often below most Chinese facilities (ex. Chimelong and Shanghai). Hopefully this clears this up for everyone and explains why Loro Parque is such an awful facility.
