Wikie (born June 1, 2001) is a female
killer whale (orca) who lives at the
Marineland of Antibes
The Marineland of Antibes is a theme park founded in 1970 by Roland de La Poype in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes), in the French Riviera. On 26 hectares it includes a marine zoological park with dolphinarium, a water park (''Aquasplash''), a childre ...
in
Antibes
Antibes (, also , ; oc, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal, Antíbol) is a coastal city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department of southeastern France, on the French Riviera, Côte d'Azur between Cannes and Nice.
The town of ...
,
France.
In 2009, Wikie was
artificially inseminated
Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatme ...
with semen from
Ulises Ulises is a Spanish language, Spanish-language given name. It is the Spanish form of the English name Ulysses (given name), Ulysses, which itself derives from a Latin form of Odysseus (a legendary Greek king).
People with the name
* Ulises Adame de ...
, a male orca who currently lives at
SeaWorld San Diego
SeaWorld San Diego is an animal theme park, oceanarium, outside aquarium and marine mammal park, in San Diego, California, United States, inside Mission Bay Park. It is owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.
SeaWorld San Diego ...
in
California. The artificial insemination resulted in the birth of her first calf (Moana) on March 16, 2011. Her calf was the first killer whale to be born through artificial insemination in
Europe. Wikie gave birth to her second calf (Keijo) on November 20, 2013.
Communication with humans
It was reported in January 2018, through the ''
Proceedings of the Royal Society
''Proceedings of the Royal Society'' is the main research journal of the Royal Society. The journal began in 1831 and was split into two series in 1905:
* Series A: for papers in physical sciences and mathematics.
* Series B: for papers in life s ...
'', that researchers from Universidad Católica de Chile, Universidad Compluense de Madrid and St. Andrews, working at the Marineland of Antibes, had successfully taught Wikie to mimic
human words such as 'hello', 'bye bye' and 'Amy' (her instructor), as well as count to three, through using her blowhole. Wikie is thought to be the world's first killer whale to ever mimic human speech.
Following the announcement of Wikie's ability to mimic human language, the
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and
Humane Society International called for Wikie to be released from captivity.
See also
*
List of captive orcas
Orcas, or killer whales, are large predatory cetaceans that were first captured live and displayed in exhibitions in the 1960s. They soon became popular attractions at public aquariums and aquatic theme parks due to their intelligence, train ...
*
List of individual cetaceans
Cetaceans are the animals commonly known as whales, dolphins, and porpoises. This list includes individuals from real life or fiction, where fictional individuals are indicated by their source. It is arranged roughly taxonomically.
Baleen wh ...
References
{{Reflist
Individual orcas
2001 animal births
Talking animals