Keiko was sold to Reino Aventura from Marineland Ontario in 1982 because of other whales picking on him. He was the smallest whale at Marineland but was already more or less trained to perform certain tricks.
When he arrived at his new home he was from Kago re-named to Keiko because "Kago" was too similar to a not so nice word in Spanish.
His whole time at Reino Aventura, Mexico City he was never acompaniod by another killer whale, instead he had bottlenose dolphins with him.
He grew very fast since he was young and soon out-grew his tank. To prevent him from growing more he was fed very little. The water in his tank was too hot for him and was not natural. The skin lesions which 1st appeared while he was at Marineland got worse. He was suffering from chronic health problems.
Keiko was very gentle with people, his trainerd did water work with him and some of the visitors were allowed to swim with him on special ocasions. He appeared to like interacting with kids.
In 1992 Warner Bros. came to visit Keiko who would become the star of ther new family film "Free Willy". Keiko is introduced to the actor (Jason James Richter) who will play Jesse a boy who saves Willy (Keiko) After about 2 weeks Keiko happily responds to Jason's hand signals and the shooting starts.
The film is released in 1993 and becomes a big hit. Kids all around the world want to help Keiko once they learn of the horrid conditions he is held at unlike "Willy" who with "Jesse's" help went back to his family and got his freedom. |
