--- description: The last killer whale born in captivity at SeaWorld died on Monday at a San Antonio park title: The Last Killer Whale Born in Captivity at SeaWorld Dies at 3 Months image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0be730c8607c971e/6988d7048fd2ee5a1635822d/seaworld-orca-kyara.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [SeaWorld](/tag/seaworld/) ## SeaWorld Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Last Killer Whale Born in Captivity at SeaWorld Dies at 3 Months by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jul 25, 2017 12:41 PM CUT  SeaWorld by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jul 25, 2017 12:41 PM CUT The last [killer whale](http://time.com/4626436/tilikum-killer-whale-dies-blackfish/ "undefined") born in captivity at SeaWorld died on Monday at a San Antonio park, the [company announced](https://seaworldcares.com/kyara-update "undefined"). Kyara, the orca born in April to her mom Takara, was being treated by veterinarians for an infection but her health declined over the weekend, [SeaWorld](http://time.com/4831501/seaworld-blackfish-government-inquiries/ "undefined") said in a statement on Monday. While a post-mortem exam will determine the whale’s official cause of death, SeaWorld officials said she likely died of pneumonia. “Kyara had faced some very serious and progressive health issues over the last week that the animal care and veterinary teams had been aggressively treating,” SeaWorld said in a statement. SeaWorld announced last year that it would stop [breeding killer whales](http://time.com/4262536/seaworld-orca-breeding/ "undefined") and end its killer whale shows following years of controversy over the way the company [treats the animals](http://time.com/4628704/seaworld-san-diego-killer-whale-show/ "undefined"). Kyara, the last whale to be born under the breeding program, was conceived before SeaWorld said it would stop the program. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4872271/seaworld-last-killer-whale-death/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4872271/seaworld-last-killer-whale-death/"},"headline":"The Last Killer Whale Born in Captivity at SeaWorld Dies at 3 Months","datePublished":"2017-07-25T12:41:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:42:55.510Z","description":"SeaWorld said she likely died of pneumonia","url":"https://time.com/4872271/seaworld-last-killer-whale-death/","keywords":["SeaWorld","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0be730c8607c971e/6988d7048fd2ee5a1635822d/seaworld-orca-kyara.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0be730c8607c971e/6988d7048fd2ee5a1635822d/seaworld-orca-kyara.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"seaworld-orca-kyara","caption":"","creditText":"SeaWorld","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/seaworld/","name":"SeaWorld"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4872271/seaworld-last-killer-whale-death/","name":"The Last Killer Whale Born in Captivity at SeaWorld Dies at 3 Months"}}]}] ```