Keiko Dies.

First off, I am just directing everyone who has interest in the marine life stuff like me. Free Willy passed away Thursday nite. It can be read on iwon.com.

I love Sea World, and I am sure there are loads of Keiko fans out there. Please do not debate Shamu's way of life. Just read the story and then go back to Christmas shopping. *** Edited 12/18/2003 6:23:48 AM UTC by Agent Johnson***

Here's an article that briefly sums up his life. Looks like pneumonia.

He had a good run, and got a second chance that few captive animals ever get. What's so odd is that he never really wanted to be free. He loved his people. While an interesting experiment, I think that trying to return him to the wild was a mistake.

I got to see him when he was in Orgeon in 1998, and it was wild to see how much personality he had just hanging out in his tank.

Yeah, this REALLY is one story that you have to read through before jumping to any strange conclusions. I must say that is one really strange whale. It made a 800+ mile trip North (on it's own) just to meet and be petted, he was free to roam around but loved the bay, etc. Sad that whales die quickly though and they couldn't help him out.

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*** Edited 12/13/2003 4:02:19 PM UTC by RollerCoasterGod***

It's even more sad that the "professionals" who tried to help him when he arrived in Norway were shooing away people from interacting with him.

They wanted Keiko to try and be off on his own. They wanted him to leave the bay & be with the other Orcas out in the sea... but he kept pretty close & the locals along with tourists wanted a chance to pet or feed him.

I wonder if it would have been a good thing if they (the officials/ marine biologists) would have laid off of the tourists & locals & let the people give Keiko the attention he was seeking... Maybe he would have lived longer? Maybe not caught pneumonia?

It says here that the average male lives 35-40 years, and a little less in captivity. That means with his "captivity adjustment" he lived about as long as expected, perhaps a few years less. I don't think anything would've changed that. I would guess that if he was given drugs earlier in his life to fend off sickness that his natural ability to handle something like pneumonia would've been lessened. Just speculation, of course.

This further reduces the number of orcas that were captured and not born in captivity.

I am a sad one over this. I like whales and animals. Can any one tell me if this is the sam whale that ate the guy who climbed the wal at Sea World. I know someone did but I forget which whale but I know the guy snuck in when the park was closed and tried to go swimming with the Orcos.

As long as we are on the subject of stupid people at animal parks, here is the story of a woman who thought a wolf was the family dog at Brookfield Zoo near Chicago.

Orcos? It is Orcas but not a big deal. No (oops), Keiko was never a resident of a Sea World park.

And, I believe it was ruled that the guy who died after climbing the wall did so of either hypothermia or drowning. The orca didn't eat the guy and, in fact, was able to somehow get him up out of the pool. *** Edited 12/17/2003 3:08:27 PM UTC by wahoo skipper***

Wow, what a stupid woman. I love the Brookfield Zoo, and that's really sad they had to kill the wolf due to her own stupidity. That's just sad.

And on the Keiko thing, too bad he wasn't able to stay around longer. He was a cool whale, and I always admired the whale inside and outside of the movie.

[wahoo skipper] You're lucky... but now I gotta edit this!!

Keiko was always at the Mexican aquarium, but I think he actually started his life in Marineland Canada, from what I heard... First from the sea, then spent a year at Marineland before being shipped over to that Mexican aquarium.

*** Edited 12/17/2003 4:05:50 PM UTC by DawgByte II***

I live near the zoo. I loved cinnimon bear! When i heard about that a few weeks ago i almost started crying.

Chitown: How did you find out the woman though Cinnimon Bear was a family dog?

He is being sarcastic, Binks. He was using the analogy of the wolf being a family dog to make a point that she thought that the wolf was "human-friendly" and willing to be petted.

Unfortunately, Cinnamon Bear was doing what wolves do - attack unknown animals that disturb them.

As far as I know, she has not been charged with a crime. She should be - without a doubt. She went off the path, then climbed a fence walked a short distance then put her hand THROUGH the fence to try and pet the wolf. Unfortunately, she did not become a true Darwin Award winner.

I agree that the woman should face criminal charges. It's amazing that such utter stupidity actually exists.

People like that woman anger me to no end. I was watching one of those "reality" shows like Real TV or one just like it, and they showed a similar story. This stupid woman climbed over TWO fences to PET a POLAR BEAR! She said they looked cute and friendly and wanted to pet it. It reached out and grabbed a hold of her and tried to pull her back into the cage. The woman is ok, but the bear was quarantined for several days because of this woman. I hate it when animals are punished for human ignorance.

I have always said that people stupid enough to do something like that should be fined and/or jailed idiocy. I say $1,000 and 30 days in jail should do it.

$1000 fine?? That's it?

She should have to pay for all the pain & suffering that went into the staff for having to terminate Cinnamon Bear's life. The amount of money the Zoo spent raising it, the emotional pain, the whole process of the aftermath & so forth.

I think that'd be letting her off easy since it was her own negligence... however, I highly doubt the Zoo is going to persue it much further to avoid any kind of scene... but if I were in their shoes, I'd go for a 10,000 fine (gray wolves aren't exactly a dime a dozen in this world) against the grand jury, along with jail time.

Well I was talking more about the bear for the $1,000 fine. Yes, even to me that doesnt seem like enough but I just made up a figure off the top of my head. The bear wasn't put down, but it was tranquilized to release the woman from his grip. As for the wolf, yes, I agree it Should be more around the $10,000 range since they did have to shoot it.

I say they should have shot her and saved the wolf... ;)

Agreed! Agreed! We have enough stupid people in the world, I don't think we would miss one.

A polar bear?!? Ye gods, that's one of the most unpredictable, dangerous animals out there. A friend of mine who's a vet did an internship at a zoo, and the vets and keepers were nervous going into the polar bear exhibit after the bears were tranq'ed (the effect of the sedatives are somewhat unpredictable).

They should have cut that ladies arm off, as she was violating his home. What $8/hr police man decided to shoot the wolf rather than fire a warning shot. Am I like the only educated guy in this industry?