Orca Morgan to move to Tenerife

An orca rescued in the Wadden Sea in summer 2010 is to move to an amusement park in Tenerife within the next few days, following a court ruling on Monday.


The Dolfinarium in Hardewijk which had been looking after the animal is said to be ‘very pleased’ that Morgan will be once again among her kind at Loro Parque on the Spanish island of Tenerife, the Volkskrant writes.
The Orca Coalition had been hoping to persuade the judge to put Morgan back with her family which it thinks is located off the coast of Norway. The organisation thinks sea parks like Loro exploit animals and disputes the contention that Morgan would be unable to survive in the wild.
It is not known when the animal will be transported to Spain. It will have to be flown there but weighs 1,200 kilos and the logistics of the operation are likely to be complicated.
Two weeks ago, it emerged the Dolfinarium is swapping Morgan for a number of dolphins. The park has also agreed to pay €100,000 to the Spanish centre because the cost of taking care of her will not pay for itself, news agency ANP said.
Junior environment minister Henk Bleker approved the move to Tenerife, saying a release into the wild would be too risky.
Five questions about Morgan the orca

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