Loro Parque - History

History

Since 1972 when it opened at on 1.3 hectares (3.2 acres) with a 150 parrots, it has grown to 13.5 hectares (33 acres) and is home to some 4000 parrots representing 350 species and sub-species, as well as many other animals. This collection is claimed to be the largest in the world but properly titled 'the most diverse collection of parrots in the world' and makes the park one of the main references in the study and conservation of parrots worldwide. Mr. Antonio de Dios of Birds International in the Philippines has the largest collection of parrots in the world boasting 10,000 individual psittacines, a major contributor to the population of the Spix (C.spixii) in captivity.

Other records the park has set include Europe's largest dolphin show pool, the world's largest indoor penguin exhibition, the longest shark tunnel in Europe, the largest Thai village outside Thailand, and the park is only the second place in Europe to house orcas.

The owners of Loro Parque have constructed another park in the South of the Island called Siam Park, which opened in 2008 and claims to be the biggest water park in Europe.

In February 2006, Loro Parque received four young orcas: two males, Keto (born in 1995) and Tekoa (born in 2000), and two females, Kohana (2002) and Skyla (2004) on loan from SeaWorld. Sea World still maintains ownership of these animals, and has sent its own professionals, including trainers, curators & veterinarians, to supplement the staff at Loro Parque. In 2004 and 2005, before the orcas were brought to Loro Parque, eight animal trainers from the park were sent to Sea World parks in Texas & Florida for training. However, only half of these trainers are currently employed in Orca Ocean, Loro Parque's facility for the killer whales. None of the subsequent employees hired have been sent to Sea World parks for training.

On October 13, 2010, Kohana, an eight year old female orca, gave birth to a male calf in the park's "Orca Ocean" exhibit after a four hour labor. The calf weighed in at about 150 kilograms (330 lb), and was two meters (6 ft 7 in) long. Kohana rejected her calf, forcing trainers to take the first steps in hand rearing him. Kohana's calf was named Adan, meaning first man in Spanish. Adan has been introduced to Keto, Tekoa, Kohana, Skyla and Morgan.

In November 2011, Loro Parque received its sixth orca Morgan, who was captured in the Netherlands on June 23, 2010. After spending a year and a half in a small tank in the Netherlands, under much controversy, Morgan was moved to Loro Parque. Claims were made that Morgan was unable to be released due to the lack of skills she would need to survive in the wild and that she was only approximately 2 or 3 at the time of her rescue. In 2012, it was further claimed that she was at least partially deaf. Independent experts have not been allowed into the entertainment park to investigate these claims.

On August 3rd 2012, Kohana, now ten years old, gave birth to a female calf named Vicky after a two hour labor. The calf weighed in at 152 kilograms (340 lb) and measured 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in) long. This calf has also been rejected by her mother, resulting in another hand-reared orca.