The death of the orca Moana in October was due to “sepsis”, the Marineland zoological park in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes) announced on Wednesday, facing questions about the health of its three other orcas before their possible departure.
Moana, a 12-year-old male, died in October.
A few weeks earlier, French justice had demanded an expert opinion on his state of health and that of one of the three other orcas in captivity.
The final autopsy, after analyzes and
“extensive tests in specialized laboratories around the world”
, made it possible to determine that
“the sudden and unexpected loss of the animal is due to acute bacterial septicemia which occurs naturally in nature”
, Marineland said in a press release sent to AFP and Le
Figaro
.
The third orca in the world born by artificial insemination - and the first in Europe - Moana had always lived at Marineland.
His mother Wikie (22 years old) still lives there, with Inouk (23 years old) and Keijo (9 years old), all three born in Antibes.
The fate of these orcas worries the animal protection association One Voice, knowing that a 2021 law against animal abuse will ban orca and dolphin shows in France from December 2026.
Also read: For the Marineland of Antibes, the puzzle of the future of orcas
One Voice wants to “collaborate”
Are they going to go to a Japanese zoo?
The question is pending since the Grasse court (Alpes-Maritimes) ordered Marineland in January to keep its orcas for at least four months, until the final expert report on their health is submitted.
On Wednesday, One Voice proposed, with the American organization Whale Sanctuary Project, to
“collaborate”
with Marineland and the French government to consider transferring the orcas to a coastal sanctuary in Nova Scotia, Canada.
The association has long campaigned for them to be welcomed in a marine sanctuary and not sent to continue the shows in a less protective country.
But the zoo argues that France has not created such a sanctuary.
Opened in 1970, the Marineland park in Antibes welcomes an average of 750,000 visitors per year.