What happened to the killer whale at Hong Kong ocean park?

Answer 1

according to www.orcahome.de

April 21, 1997:
Hoi Wai died at Ocean Park Hongkong, when she lost too much blood in her intestines. The park besides expressing sorrow also cancelled all performances at the Ocean theater. Hoi Wai's special training coach appeared to be deeply affected by the loss, as he became speechless during the press conference. The park has no plans yet to train another killer whale to replace Hoi Wai.

Hoi Wai was about 22, female, and born in Iceland. She arrived in Ocean Park in January 1979 and has performed in Hong Kong for 18 years, estimated to have entertained over 56 million people. Ocean Park chief Fok Ho Wan expressed Hoi Wai's discomfort was first discovered last Friday, as she didn't continue with her normal feeding amount and had digestion problems. The park on Saturday cancelled the entire day of performances in Ocean Theater. On Sunday Hoi Wai regained her appetite and swam with other animals. But on Monday afternoon, his colleagues again discovered Hoi Wai's serious digestion problem and bleeding. The situation worsened, and after the veterinarian team failed to save her, she finally passed away at 11:40 PM HKT. The park's spokesperson added, Hoi Wai's body would not be made into a model and would later be cremated.

Having trained Hoi Wai for 18 years, animal training coach manager Wong Hoi Ming could not hold back his sadness during the interview, as he said, "Being with her for 18 years, I have always treated her like my child. This time being separated under this situation, not only myself, the entire company was greatly affected by the loss, emotionally we are all very sad......" He also described the countless memories Hoi Wai has given him. He described Hoi Wai was like "housekeeper lady", like a cop, many times she seemed to understand humans and there was much joy playing with her in the water......

Also, Fok Ho Wan pointed, normal killer whales can live until around 30 something (note: actually the average for a female orca is about 50 years), so Hoi Wai didn't die of old age. As for the true cause of death, it will have to wait until the autopsy (note: last report was acute haemorrhagic enteritis (severe blood loss)). He also expressed that after discovering Hoi Wai's illness, she was quarantined. He believed the other ocean animals won't be affected and the theater should open again on April 23rd.

On April 22nd some Hong Kong visitors to the park were shocked and saddened by the news of Hoi Wai's death and praised her as a killer whale who was loved by everyone and will be missed. Hoi Wai's costar in the film Moon Warriors, (Jin Sun) Andy Lau Tak Wai, who spent a period of time with her during the shoot, also expressed sorrow and grief over the loss.

In 1989, the park attempted to match her with a 5 year old Japanese killer whale Prince, but Prince passed away in 1991 due to pseudomonas (severe bacterial infection associated with multiple abscesses and septicaemia). .

Hoi Wai, which means Sea Might, weighed in at about 4400 pounds and measured nearly 17 feet.

Source: Wolverine's News, 23 April 1997