Baby Killer Whale Bottlefed at Loro Parque

Loro Parque in Tenerife, Spain has welcomed its first ever baby orca. Weighing in at just over 150kgs, the energetic young male instinctively swam to the surface to take his first breath moments after his arrival.

The calf is currently being hand-raised as first-time mother, Kohana, unfortunately did not bond with the baby. The adorable offspring is being cared for in a specially designed nursery pool and bottle-fed milk expressed directly from its mother in order to maintain his growth and development. The veterinary team at the park are continually observing the progress of the new addition and are hopeful that they will be able to reunite the calf with his mother and the other three orcas shortly.

To mark this momentous birth, the baby has been aptly named Adan, Spanish for Adam -- the first man. Deputy Manager of the Loro Parque Foundation, Dr. Javier Almunia, commented on Adan's arrival saying "this birth is a major milestone for our breeding programme and is confirmation of the wellbeing of the orcas who have been at the park since 2006".

All video courtesy of and copyright by Loro Parque, Tenerife, Spain

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• orca
• killer whale
• baby
• born
• birth
• cute
• tenerife
• spain

[gingerlykimberly]

@KingsProduction50 Grow a heart loser

[armst012]

Orcas meant to be viewed on the discovery channel and nowhere else..They made it this far without us for thousands of years.

[PianoLove1968]

@beccael21 yes as a jailor to a beautiful intelligent being who was born in jail and not the sea where he/she belongs.Aquariums are jails!!

[beccael21]

Too. much. cuteness!! That person has the best job EVER!

[luckyangel500]

@Heroicballbag

U are suvh a thicko i am only 12 and loves whales + orca. If u were dumped in shark infested waters then u would probably b harrased too so HA LOSER!

[shamurocks111]

@JillyBean1612 Kohana unfortunatley rejeted him :(

[HeroicBallbag]

to all you bleeding heart commenters below, if these killer whales were out in the wild, they'd just be getting harassed by sharks all the god damn time, so quit whining.

[JillyBean1612]

Where is his mommy? :( This calf should be by her side!

[Eggs4Eva]

I. want. that. job

[ShamuKid]

Cute! :)

[RozaVA1]

sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee­eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee­eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee­eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee­eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet baby orca