Enlarge image
Mourning Toa: Volunteers took care of the young whale (archive image)
Photo: Ben Mckay / AAP / dpa
For around two weeks, volunteers tried to help a baby orca stranded in New Zealand.
In vain: the little whale named Toa died unexpectedly.
His health "deteriorated quickly" on Friday evening (local time), wrote the organization "Whale Rescue" on Facebook.
"Local veterinarians rushed to help, but couldn't save him." All helpers were "devastated".
The calf was discovered on July 12 in shallow waters off Plimmerton Beach on the North Island. He had failed to follow his flock into the open water. Numerous volunteers looked for his family in the sea. Meanwhile, Toa was looked after and fed around the clock by animal rights activists and experts. Most recently, according to the nature conservation authority, he had already developed colic.
The little killer whale was probably less than three months old and therefore still too young to survive alone in the wild.
He also urgently needed breast milk.
Experts had recently warned that the animal might have to be euthanized if its family was not found.
Many people in New Zealand had followed Toa's fate on the news.
According to the organization, the phone from "Whale Rescue" is no longer standing still.
bbr / dpa