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Chimelong Ocean Kingdom Chimelong Killer Whale Holding Facility was set up

Discussion in 'China' started by Deer Forest, 25 Feb 2017.

  1. Deer Forest

    Deer Forest Well-Known Member

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    Yesterday, the first Killer whale holding facility in China was set up in Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, Zhuhai.

    Totally 9 killer whale lives here, including 5 males and 4 females, aged between 5 and 13. The largest one is 6.5 m long and weighs 4 t. While the smallest one is 4 m long and weighs 1.2 t.

    [​IMG]

    Every day they take fish from 35 to 74 kg, on average 50 kg. The feed includes about 10 kinds of fishes and are imported from Canada, Norway and Australia.

    About 30 staff take care of the killer whales, including international experts.

    Chimelong says killer whales are highly social animals and live in matriarchal society. The 9 killer whales belongs to 2 social groups, so they were kept in two facilities.

    The killer whale program of Chimelong is supported by China government, said Meng Xianlin, The Endangered Species Import and Export Management Office.
     
    Last edited: 25 Feb 2017
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  2. FunkyGibbon

    FunkyGibbon Well-Known Member

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    Any data or pictures of the tanks Deer Forest?
     
  3. Deer Forest

    Deer Forest Well-Known Member

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    Sorry I did not find tank information.
     
  4. FunkyGibbon

    FunkyGibbon Well-Known Member

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    No worries, let's just hope they built big! Seems like a little outing to Guangzhou may be in order
     
  5. Hyak_II

    Hyak_II Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I have pictures of the facilities and can post them a bit later. The pools are entirely indoors, but fairly spacious all things considering.
     
  6. Bib Fortuna

    Bib Fortuna Well-Known Member

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    Good News for Orca-Fans: Russia has given permission to catch 10 more Orcas in 2017!:):):):):):):):):):):):):):)
     
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  7. aardvark250

    aardvark250 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Is the facility open for public yet?
     
  8. Loxodonta Cobra

    Loxodonta Cobra Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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  9. Deer Forest

    Deer Forest Well-Known Member

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    I also want to know :p.
     
  10. aardvark250

    aardvark250 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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  11. Daniel

    Daniel Well-Known Member

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    I hope this was a joke! Very sad news indeed :(
     
  12. FunkyGibbon

    FunkyGibbon Well-Known Member

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  13. MICHAELRG

    MICHAELRG Member

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    I'm working on aggregating every single photo of Chimelong's orcas into one place https://goo.gl/photos/sPhPLEYSeJMjNUrr7
    The description for each photo has a link to the original source. For some I couldn't find the source. Also some are very low resolution so there must be higher resolution versions somewhere. If you find any additional images please add them to the album :)
    Also feel free to share the link to the album the more people who can potentially add pictures the more comprehensive the album can be
    In addition here's the location of the holding facility: https://goo.gl/maps/fxd9D9MeUF92
     
  14. Azamat Shackleford

    Azamat Shackleford Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Personally, I'm conflicted. On one hand it's nice to have a new breeding foundation for the orcas, on the other hand, is there any way the orcas are being captured in a, per se, humane way? I don't think it'll all be great if they were captured and separated from their family pods, but that's just my cup of tea, and plus that'll give more fuel for the crazy animal rights extremists to rant on about.
     
  15. CGSwans

    CGSwans Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Wild capture for any purpose other than ex-situ conservation is no cause for celebration.
     
  16. Azamat Shackleford

    Azamat Shackleford Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Yeah, that's the point which isn't suiting my cup of tea. I'll just hope that those captured orcas at least are treated with care........
     
  17. Brum

    Brum Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I agree with this in theory but if it wasn't for wild imports then aardwolves, aardvarks, certain civet species and countless other none-threatened species wouldn't still be in captivity.
    Capturing highly social species for entertainment purposes alone is different though, certain cetaceans could be self-sustaining but these killer whales aren't likely to be a sound basis for a viable gene pool and even if they do breed extremely well there's an amazing lack of places looking to go in to them.

    In summary I don't disagree with wild capture but in this circumstance I can't find any reason to support this decision.
     
  18. Azamat Shackleford

    Azamat Shackleford Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    ^Basically what Brum said, I tend to twist my words up a lot :p
     
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  19. Brum

    Brum Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    @Eublepharis It took me a while to phrase it properly as well. ;)
     
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  20. Shellheart

    Shellheart Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I agree they will not be a good basis for a population,but I also don't think they'll need to be one. Quite a few facilities are running into genetic bottlenecks or have overly small populations. Marineland France, Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium, Kamogawa Sea World, the new Linyi Polar Ocean Park (which at this point has only 2 orcas), Moskvarium,and Loro Parque. All these facilities have 5 or less whales,save for Loro Parque,and have given no explicit plans to end their breeding programs. In addition to this SeaWorld has said they'd continue to provide genetic material despite no in-house breeding,and Chimelong is now planning their own pod,as well as 2 or 3 facilities that are known to have some amount of orcas,but are keeping quiet (Dalian Laohutan Ocean World,Wuxi Changqiao Ocean Paradise) If (and that's a giant if) an international breeding cooperation were to be established for the species I think a fairly decent breeding program could get up and running,all without any real need for transfers or captures. It'd be in the best interest for these facilities. I agree that these captures weren't necessary,however.