世界上惟一的饲养鲸豚成功产子(图) |
http://www.sina.com.cn 2005/04/18 17:41 国际在线 |
The only whale-dolphin mix in captivity has given birth to a playful female calf, officials at Sea Life Park Hawaii said Thursday. The calf was born on Dec. 23 to Kekaimalu, a mix of a false killer whale and an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin. Park officials said they waited to announce the birth until now because of recent changes in ownership and operations at the park. The young as-yet unnamed wholphin is one-fourth false killer whale and three-fourths Atlantic bottlenose dolphin. Her slick skin is an even blend of a dolphin's light gray and the black coloring of a false killer whale. The calf still depends fully on her mother's milk, but sometimes snatches frozen capelin from the hands of trainers, then toys with the sardine-like fish. She is jumbo-sized compared to purebred dolphins, and is already the size of a one-year-old bottlenose. "Mother and calf are doing very well," said Dr. Renato Lenzi, general manager of Sea Life Park by Dolphin Discovery. "We are monitoring them very closely to ensure the best care for them." Although false killer whales and Atlantic bottlenose dolphins are different species, they are classified within the same family by scientists. "They are not that far apart in terms of taxonomy," said Louis Herman, a leading expert in the study of marine mammals. There have been reports of wholphins in the wild, he said. |
世界上惟一的饲养鲸豚成功产子(图) |
美国夏威夷海洋公园4月14日宣布,世界上惟一一只人工饲养的鲸鱼和海豚的混血儿已经于去年年底成功产下了一只活泼可爱的小鲸豚。因为近期该公园的所有权及运作方式发生了改变,所以直到现在他们才对外发布这个消息。 据美联社4月15日报道,这只顽皮的雌性鲸豚(Wholphin,半鲸半豚)幼仔出生于去年的12月23日,它的妈妈是伪虎鲸和海豚的结合后生下的混血儿,它的爸爸则是一只大西洋宽吻海豚。因此,这只目前还没有名字的小鲸豚拥有四分之一伪虎鲸的血统,和四分之三的大西洋宽吻海豚血统。小鲸豚光滑的皮肤甚至也混和了宽吻海豚浅灰色的和伪虎鲸黑色的皮肤颜色。 夏威夷海洋公园的有关人员表示,相对于纯种海豚来说,这个小家伙的体形明显要大很多,现在它的体形已经相当于一只1岁大的宽吻海豚那么大了。目前,这只小鲸豚仍然完全依靠妈妈的乳汁生活,但有时它也会抢走训练员手中的冰冻小海鱼,然后当玩具似的玩耍起来。 小鲸豚的妈妈——Kekaimalu是世界上惟一一只人工饲养的鲸鱼和海豚的混血儿。19年前,一只长14英尺,重2000磅的伪虎鲸和一只长6英尺,重400磅的海豚的结合后生下了Kekaimalu。Kekaimalu这个名字的意思即是“来自和平的海洋”。公园的研究人员猜测,小鲸豚的爸爸是一只8英尺长,名为Mikioi大西洋宽吻海豚。 公园管理人员表示,他们会尽快给这只小鲸豚起名字,然后会在最近几个月里把它送到一个大一些的展示池中。 报道说,伪虎鲸可以长到20英尺长,体重能达到2吨;大西洋宽吻海豚的最大身长为12英尺,体重可达700磅。尽管伪虎鲸和大西洋宽吻海豚属于不同种类的生物,但科学家把它们归在了同一个家庭里。研究海洋哺乳动物的专家路易斯·赫尔曼表示:“在分类学上,这两种生物离的并不是很远。”他还同时表示,人们以前还曾发现过野生的鲸豚。(文/王高山) |
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