Orlando, FL (September 24, 2001) -- A mature female manatee rescued from Satellite Beach on Sept. 20 continues to undergo treatment from SeaWorld animal care specialists. The manatee is receiving antibiotics, and is being fed fluids and nutrition through a tube several times a day. Initial tests suggest a chest infection, and an ultrasound will soon be completed.

Nearly a dozen SeaWorld animal care staffers rescued the manatee, weighing 845 pounds and measuring 9 feet long, and her female calf from a residential canal in Satellite Beach, Fla. last week. The calf is approximately a year and a half old, weighs 475 pounds and is 5 feet long. She was brought in with her mother because she is still dependent on her for survival.

Orlando, FL (September 26, 2001) -- SeaWorld is celebrating a special birthday as the original Baby Shamu turns sweet sixteen Wednesday, September 26. In honor of the occasion, the park’s animal trainers are throwing a birthday party during "The Shamu Adventure" show complete with a whale-sized birthday cake.

Baby Shamu, real name Kalina, made history in 1985 when she came into the world as the first killer whale to be born and thrive in the care of man. Now a 17-foot-long, 5,000-pound killer whale, she has given birth to three calves herself. There are currently eight killer whales in the SeaWorld Orlando Shamu family.

SeaWorld's killer whale breeding program is the most successful in the world.  In total, 14 killer whales have been born and successfully raised at SeaWorld adventure parks in San Diego, California, San Antonio, Texas and Orlando, Florida. Ten of these births have occurred in Orlando.

Delighted guests joined excited zoo keepers and veterinary staff to see the new baby born on the park's Edge of Africa habitat. The baby's mother, Cleo, delivered the new calf in the water in guest view at 10:30 a.m. 

The baby, the first hippo born at Busch Gardens, is nursing, swimming and bonding with its mother.

Hippo cows give birth to a single calf, usually weighing between 60 and 110 pounds. Gestation lasts eight months and birth typically takes place in the water. Hippos can swim as soon as they are born and can nurse underwater. By the end of the first year, a baby hippo will weight approximately 550 pounds. When fully grown, hippos weigh between 3,000 and 7,000 pounds. Cleo weighs approximately 3,500 pounds and is 16 years old.

The calf's father, five-year-old Kiboko, is part of an ongoing study at Busch Gardens of hippo vocalizations and acoustics. Dr. William Barklow of Framingham State College leads the study with the help of Busch Gardens' zoo keepers who conduct daily hearing tests on the massive animals.

San Diego, CA (September 1, 2001) -- The world's first killer whale conceived through artificial insemination was born today on September 1, 2001 at 8:50 p.m. Kasatka, a 25-year-old killer whale, gave birth to a healthy calf at Shamu Stadium, under the watchful eyes of the park's veterinarians, animal care and animal training teams.

After a 17-month gestation, Kasatka gave birth to the calf--estimated to weigh between 300 to 350 pounds and measures between 6 to 7 feet in length--in Shamu Stadium's main show pool following a four-hour labor. Moments later, the baby whale instinctively swam to the water's surface to take its first breath. The park's animal staff report the mother and baby appear to be healthy. The sex of the calf is yet to be determined.

Kasatka was the first marine mammal anywhere in the world to become pregnant through artificial insemination. She was impregnated in February 2000 from semen of a male killer whale at SeaWorld Orlando. The successful artificial insemination procedure is the result of 12 years of research conducted under the direction of Dr. Todd Robeck, corporate director of theriogenology, based at SeaWorld San Antonio. While killer whales are not endangered, the techniques and knowledge gained from this advancement have the potential to be applied to all cetaceans, including endangered species.