Kohana

Kohana (pronounced koh-HAH-nah) was a 20-year-old female Icelandic killer whale who lived at Loro Parque. She was born tail-first at 8:30 PM PST on May 3rd, 2002 at SeaWorld San Diego. Her mother was Takara and her father was Tilikum, and she was the second killer whale to be successfully conceived through artificial insemination. Kohana was the matriarch of the Loro Parque pod. Kohana passed away due to infectious endocarditis associated with a heart defect, which was referred to in the necropsy as "cardiac malformation" on September 14th, 2022 at Loro Parque.^[1][2]

Birth & Early Life[]

Sometime during late 1999 or early 2000, Kasatka was artificially inseminated with sperm from Tilikum, a male killer whale who lived at SeaWorld Orlando. ^[3] It wasn't long before Kasatka successfully conceived a calf, and became the first female killer whale to be successfully artificially inseminated. ^[4] In November of 2000, Takara was also artificially inseminated. ^[5] Shortly after that, a female killer whale at SeaWorld San Antonio, Haida II, was artificially inseminated as well. Just like Kasatka, both whales were inseminated with sperm from Tilikum. ^[6]

At around 6:00 PM PDT on May 3, 2002, Takara went into labor. Two and a half hours later, at 8:30 PM, Kohana was born. Her birth was covered on an episode of That's My Baby. Although it was unknown at the time, Kohana was born with a heart defect. ^[1]

Life at SeaWorld San Diego[]

Kasatka and Nakai were present during Kohana's birth, and Kasatka helped her daughter through the process. Takara was an excellent mother and she, Kohana, Nakai, and Kasatka spent a lot of time together. Kohana was surrounded by her mother, grandmother, uncle, and surrogate aunts. On April 24th, 2004, Takara and Kohana were moved to SeaWorld Orlando. Kasatka reportedly emitted loud distress vocalizations after Takara was moved and was incredibly upset.

Life at SeaWorld Orlando[]

In Orlando, Kohana and her mother joined Tilikum, as well as Katina, Kalina, Taima, Taku, Ikaika, Tuar, Skyla, and Tekoa, although Tuar and Tekoa were moved out the next day. Kohana's mother often vied for dominance while in Florida.

Kohana became close with Skyla, a female calf born only two months before her arrival.

Taku, a subadult male and the son of Katina, took an interest in Takara after her arrival and she soon fell pregnant again. On November 23rd, 2005, Takara gave birth to her second calf, a son named Trua. Kohana was present during his birth. Although Kohana spent a lot of time with her mother and new baby brother, she never got the chance to learn how to properly care for a calf. Less than 4 months after Trua's birth, Kohana and Skyla were both moved to Loro Parque.

Life at Loro Parque[]

Kohana and Skyla, along with Keto and Tekoa, arrived in Loro Parque on February 14th, 2006. All four whales had been separated from their mothers at a very young age and thus the social structure of this newly formed group remained rough for the first years. Aggression between the whales became frequent and, due to his low status within the social structure, Tekoa often became the punching bag between the four.

Becoming The Matriarch[]

Despite social issues, Kohana quickly took over as matriarch. Due to her young age and inexperience, it is likely that she acted overly aggressive at times towards the subdominant whales.

Motherhood[]

In 2009, Kohana fell pregnant with her first calf, a male, sired by her uncle Keto. On the morning of  October 13th, 2010, Kohana gave birth to Adán at 8-years-old. While on the younger side, Kohana had a healthy pregnancy, however without the support of her mother or grandmother, Kohana showed no interest in her calf. Adán was hand-raised by the Loro Parque staff and later reintroduced to his mother. They bonded as podmates, but it was not a traditional mother-son relationship.

Shortly after Adán was born, Kohana became pregnant once again, this time with a female calf, again sired by Keto. On August 3rd, 2012, Kohana gave birth to her second calf, Victoria. Once again Kohana rejected Victoria and she was hand-raised by the staff. Vicky was later introduced to her older brother and they got along very well, but she tragically passed away in June 2013 due to intestinal issues.

Death[]

Kohana unexpectedly passed away at Loro Parque on September 14th, 2022. According to Loro Parque, veterinary staff had identified health issues prior to her passing but the extensive efforts to prevent her death were unsuccessful. A necropsy was carried out at the Institute of Animal Health of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. On September 18th, it was revealed that preliminary necropsy results showed that Kohana passed away due to a heart defect. ^[1] A year after Kohana's death, it was revealed in a presentation that Kohana's death occurred following chronic gastrointestinal issues experienced by most animals at Loro Parque. Though Kohana's heart defect likely made her more susceptible, the origin of the bacteria was gastrointestinal in origin.^[2]

Trivia[]

• The name "Kohana" can be attributed to several languages. In Japanese, Kohana (心花) means "little flower." Others claim that the name has origins in a Sioux dialect, meaning "swift," though a reputable source for this hasn't been found so much.
• She was one of 4 killer whales that had their birth documented on the Animal Planet show That's My Baby; the other three were Nakai, Tuar, and Ikaika.

Transfer History[]

Family Tree[]

Galleries[]

• Photos of Kohana
• Videos of Kohana

References[]