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THE VETERINARY MEDICINE OF KILLER WHALES: MYTHS AND REALITY
Conference Paper · September 2022
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Manuel García Hartmann
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Falconara, 2nd September 2022, Invited Speaker
Abstract
THE VETERINARY MEDICINE OF KILLER WHALES: MYTHS AND REALITY
The killer whale (Orcinus orca) is the largest species of the family of “true dolphins”, the
Delphinids. While virtually unknown 60 years ago, today they belong to the best studied marine
mammals. With their unique black-and-white color pattern, their size, strength, and power they
are easily recognizable and often admired. Orcas are large, strong and intelligent, they are top
predators which hunt in packs like wolfs and live in stable family groups.
As a patient, however, they pose some particular problems which have some parallels with
elephants: They are too big for many standard diagnostic techniques and when un-cooperative
they can become outright dangerous. Over the last decades, a special way of working with killer
whales has been developed, which relies on the cooperation of the veterinarian with expert
trainers and the use of so-called “medical behaviors”.
In this presentation, we describe the current way of working as a veterinarian with this fascinating
species.
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