Tilikum

Facts:

Gender: Male
Length and Weight: 22 feet and 12,300 pounds
Presumed Age: 25
Captured: November 1983 in Iceland
Parks: Sealand of the Pacific and SeaWorld Florida
Breed: 100% Icelandic

Bio:

Tilikum was captured in November 1983 in Iceland along with Samoa and Nandu. Tilikum was sold to Sealand of the Pacific where he joined two females, Nootka IV and Haida II. The two were extremely dominant over Tilikum and often became aggressive. On February 1991, a trainer named Keltie Byrne accidently slipped into the orca tank when one of the orcas grabbed her leg and pulled her around. She eventually drowned after rescue efforts failed. After, no one was allowed to come in contact with the orcas. It was believed that the orcas thought the trainer was a toy because no one had previously entered the water with them. On December 24, 1991, Haida gave birth to Tilikum's first calf, a son, Kyuqout. The two females were possessive the calf and pushed Tilikum into the small medical pool. After the park went out of business, SeaWorld bought the four orcas but they weren't moved immediatly. Because Tilikum was isolated in the medical pool by his podmates, SeaWorld feared for Tilikum's health and they were granted an emergency permit to move him to SeaWorld Florida. By January 1992, he had been moved. Back at Sealand, Nootka gave birth to Tilikum's second son but the calf passed away after 36 days. By the next year, Nootka was reunited with Tilikum when she moved from Sealand. On September 9, 1993, Katina gave birth to Tilikum's third son, Taku, and on December 31 of that year, Gudrun also gave birth to Tilikum's calf, a female named Nyar. Nootka delivered a stillborn in August 1994 and passed away a month later. Gudrun and Katina soon became pregnant from Tilikum again. Gudrun delivered a stillborn in February 1996 and passed away on February 25, 1996. On December 27, 1996, Katina delivered Tilikum's seventh calf, Unna. Between the years of 1997 and 1999, Tilikum sired three more calves: a stillborn, Sumar, and Tuar. On July 6, 1999, staff found a naked man over Tilikum's body. The man found a way to hide from park security and jumped in the tank with Tilikum during the night. Because of the 1991 incident, the media accused Tilikum of killing the man. As it turned out, the man had no bite marks nor wounds on him, he died from hypothermia and he was reported to have some mental problems. Some people believed Tilikum was trying to help the man by carrying him on his back, others thought he was playing with the dead body. On November 8, 2000, Taima delivered Tekoa, Tilikum's eleventh calf. On September 1, 2001, Kasatka at SeaWorld California delivered a male, named Nakai. Tilikum fathered him through artificial insemination. Takara also gave birth to Kohana through artificial insemination from Tilikum. In 2002, 2004, and 2007, Tilikum fathered three more calves: Ikaika, Skyla, and Malia. In January, 2010, Takara at SeaWorld Texas delivered his 18th calf, a female named Sakari. Tilikum is quite possibly the most successful captive orca father, siring 19 calves. He was often with a female, Taima, and the two got along well. He is known for being the heaviest orca in the world at over 12,000 pounds. Despite his size, Tilikum was usually very gentle with trainers. However, on February 25, 2010, one of Tilikum's trainers, Dawn Brancheau, was killed by Tilikum during one of the Believe shows. Trainers refrained from touching Tilikum and changed the way they interacted with him. On June 6, 2010, Taima passed away after birthing complications from a stillborn calf sired by Tilikum.

Family:

Mother: unknown
Father: unknown
Daughters: Nyar, Unna, Kalina's 1997 stillborn, Kohana, Skyla, Malia, and Sakari
Sons: Kyuqout, Nootka IV's 1992 calf, Taku, Sumar, Tuar, Tekoa, Haida II's stillborn, Nakai, and Ikaika
Undetermined offspring: Nootka IV's 1994 stillborn, Gudrun's 1996 stillborn, and Taima's 2010 stillborn
Granddaughter: Nalani
Grandson: Trua

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