Marine park announces Morgan the orca is pregnant

WDC is devastated to hear that Morgan, the wild orca held at Loro Parque on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, is pregnant. The news comes just a few weeks after SeaWorld, who had previously listed all the Loro Parque orcas on its own company inventory, appeared to conveniently end its association with the Tenerife park.

SeaWorld’s much-heralded announcement of an orca breeding ban in 2016 was never acknowledged by Loro Parque and her pregnancy would contravene the conditions under which her transfer to Loro Parque was allowed under rules governing the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in the European Union.

Morgan was originally rescued off the coast off the Netherlands in June 2010 after being found malnourished. After being nursed back to health, it was hoped she could be released back into the wild or moved to a sanctuary but despite a lawsuit and opposition from environmental groups, she was instead moved to Loro Parque in 2011 where she has remained since with five other orcas.

Find out more about orcas in captivity