Kylu is seven months old and progressing well
- The only beluga calf in Europe is now over two meters long and weighs more than 170 kilos
- Kylu, who has already started eating solid fish, is making daily progress in his behavior with his caregivers and imitating his mother
Little Kylu may be small in age, but certainly not in size. He was born with 160 cm and 74kg and currently measures 2.13m and weighs 172 kg. A record development for an animal that has been able to thrive thanks to the care and dedication of the team of trainers and veterinarians at the Oceanogràfic in Valencia.
His caregivers waited 500 days for the mother, Yulka, to complete her gestation and give birth. A full deployment of technical means and human resources, about fifteen people, have been and are available to mother and calf.
To feed him correctly, the veterinarians designed an adapted system by which he is supplied with a porridge based on special milk for marine mammals, crushed fish, fish oil, cream and vitamin complexes. Initially, feedings were done every two hours, and now that they have incorporated 2.5 kilos of solid fish a day, he takes the 3 liters of milk in a more spaced manner, so the nights are quieter in the aquarium.
Learning through play
Play is part of the baby’s daily learning and, through it, the trainers teach him different functions such as veterinary care. Positive reinforcement is for him and his mother the best way to be motivated to continue exploring their environment, so all their behaviors are based on the collaboration of the animals.
In addition, he takes advantage of the night periods to learn daily from his mother. In fact, he has already copied Yulka’s way of scratching, which he imitates, which has served him perfectly for his skin shedding process.
Both the gestation, the birth and the daily growth of the calf, provide a unique opportunity to learn more about the life, physiology and behavior of these incredible cetaceans.
Studying Kylu
During this time, the research team of the Oceanogràfic Foundation has continued with the different lines of study, which began during Yulka’s gestation, to verify that the evolution of the calf is favorable and, in addition, obtain new biological data on a newborn of this species, of which very little is known.
With them it has been verified that the immune system of the calf works correctly, new sounds have been discovered that the mother and the calf use to communicate with each other and the pulmonary function of the small beluga has been measured, which had never been done before.
A biological success
The birth and survival of Kylu has been a biological success. This achievement has been possible thanks to the human team, the advanced infrastructures available at the Oceanogràfic, which Global Omnium manages through Avanqua since August 2015, as well as the support received from other partners and collaborators such as the Vancouver Aquarium in Canada and SeaWorld in USA. Once again, the professionals of the center have tirelessly dedicated all their efforts to bring the calf forward, teach him the behaviors for his basic care, and reinforce the mother-child relationship. All this supporting the fundamental philosophy of providing the best care and the highest standards of welfare to all the animals of the aquarium and offer its visitors an enriching experience.
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