Скачать или смотреть MEXICO: KEIKO THE WHALE IS CLOSE TO DEATH

(6 Feb 1995) Spanish/Nat

Keiko the whale, better known as "Free Willy" from the Warner Brothers hit movie, is seriously ill in a Mexico marine park and may be close to dying.

The 12 year-old has a herpes-related disease and is rapidly losing weight.

But help is at hand from an independent American foundation who is offering to move "Free Willy" to the United States.

At the end of the movie, Willy the killer whale earned his freedom. But Keiko, the star of "Free Willy", did not swim into the sunset.

He remains in this Mexico marine park, trapped in a tank he's said to have outgrown.

Keiko is also sick with a herpes-type skin infection called papilloma and is dangerously underweight.

SOUNDBITE:
"Today we are formalizing the agreement by which the Free Willy-Keiko Foundation, represented by its founder and president, Mr. David Phillips, officially receives Keiko as a donation."
SUPER CAPTION: Oscar Porter, Director General of "Reino Ventura" Park.

The three and a-half ton whale spends his days endlessly circling a pool so shallow he has trouble remaining submerged .

Three times a day, 15 year-old Keiko does a few tricks as part of a marine show at a Mexico City amusement park where he has been for over a decade.

SOUNDBITE:
"To tell you the truth, he is extremely sensitive. He's like a child, very mischievous, but very nice because he always looks for our companionship."
SUPER CAPTION: Carla Tusant, Trainer.

Once the Mexican government processes the papers to finally free "Free Willy" he will be taken to the United States where The Keiko Foundation hope they can nurse him back to good health.

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