Let Wild Animals Be Wild

Peter Singer

Monday 8 March 2010

 

The killing of a SeaWorld trainer by an orca ought to make us rethink keeping animals in captivity for human amusement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Is it right to keep wild animals in captivity for our amusement?

                                                 Photograph: Chris Park/AP

 

(1) Last month, at the SeaWorld amusement park in Florida, a whale grabbed a trainer, Dawn Brancheau, pulled her underwater and thrashed about with her. By the time rescuers arrived, Brancheau was dead.

 

(2) The death of the trainer is a tragedy, and one can only have sympathy for her family. But the incident raises broader questions: Was the attack deliberate? Did the whale, an orca named Tilikum and nicknamed Tilly, act out of stress at being held captive in a sterile concrete tank? Was he tired of being forced to perform to amuse the crowds? Is it right to keep such large animals in close confinement?

 

(3) Tilly had been involved in two previous human deaths. In one episode, a trainer fell into the pool and Tilly and two other whales drowned him. In another, a man who appears to have entered the enclosure at night, when Sea World was closed, was found dead in the pool with Tilly. An autopsy showed that he had a bite mark. One of Tilly's offspring, sold to an amusement park in Spain, has also killed a trainer, as have orcas in other parks.

 

(4) We will never know exactly what was going on in Tilly's mind, but we do know that he has been in captivity since he was about two years old – he was captured off the coast of Iceland in 1983. Orcas are social mammals, and he would have been living with his mother and other relatives in a pod. It is reasonable to suppose that the sudden separation was traumatic for Tilly.

 

(5) Moreover, the degree of confinement in an aquarium is extreme, for no tank, no matter how large, can come close to meeting the needs of animals who spend their lives in social groups swimming long distances in the ocean. Joyce Tischler, of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, described keeping a six-tonne orca in Sea World's tanks as akin to keeping a human in a bathtub for his entire life. David Phillips, director of the International Marine Mammal Project for the Earth Island Institute, which led the efforts to rehabilitate the orca Keiko – made famous by the movie Free Willy – said: "Orcas deserve a better fate than living in cramped pools."

 

(6) But if we are pointing the finger at SeaWorld for what it does to its captive animals, we should also look more broadly at the way we confine performing animals. In most countries, it is possible to visit zoos and see bored animals pacing back and forth in cages, with nothing to do but wait for the next meal.

 

(7) Circuses are even worse places for animals. Their living conditions are deplorable, especially in travelling circuses where cages have to be small so that they can go on the road. Training animals to perform tricks often involves starvation and cruelty. 

 

(8) Several countries – among them Austria, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, India, Israel and Sweden – ban or severely restrict the use of wild animals in circuses. In Brazil, a movement to ban wild animals from circuses started after hungry lions managed to grab and devour a small boy.

 

(9) Several major cities and many local governments around the world do not permit circuses with wild animals. Last year, Bolivia became the first country to ban all animals, wild or domestic, from circuses. That decision followed an undercover investigation by Animal Defenders International, which exposed shocking abuse of circus animals. Now the British government is holding a public online consultation on the use of animals in circuses. Many hope it will be a first step towards a ban.

 

(10) Attempts to defend amusement parks and circuses on the grounds that they "educate" people about animals should not be taken seriously. Such enterprises are part of the commercial entertainment industry. The most important lesson they teach impressionable young minds is that it is acceptable to keep animals in captivity for human amusement. That is the opposite of the ethical attitude to animals that we should be seeking to impart to children.

 

(12) There is no excuse for keeping wild animals in amusement parks or circuses. Until our governments take action, we should avoid supporting places where captive wild animals perform for our amusement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1) We care for 29 killer whales, the largest killer whale population in a zoological facility worldwide. They are our family. We are a global leader in the care and understanding of this species and are accredited by the world’s foremost professional zoological organizations. We apply best practices in behavioral training, environmental enrichment, preventive health, veterinary medicine and facilities design and management. As with all animals at SeaWorld, the whales live in safe, sophisticated habitats, receive world-class medical care and are continually engaged socially, mentally and physically.

 

(2) These animals are healthy and well adapted to their surroundings, a fact that is evident to our zoological experts through their constant interaction and observation 24 hours per day.

 

Top 5 facts to know about SeaWorld’s killer whale care:

• We do not capture killer whales in the wild. Due to our groundbreaking reproduction research and program, we haven’t collected a killer whale from the wild in 35 years.

• Our killer whales’ life spans are equivalent with whales in the wild.

• We recognize the importance of social structure and keep dependent killer whale calves with their mothers.

• The killer whales in our facilities benefit whales in the wild. We provide scientists with access, research and data that would be difficult or impossible to get in the wild.

• We invest millions of dollars in the care of our whales. Our habitats are among the largest in the world today and allow for the highest and safest standards of care. We also recently announced our vision for the creation of future whale habitats.

 

 

(3) All animals at SeaWorld live in safe, sophisticated habitats, receive world-class care and are continually engaged socially, mentally and physically. More than 1,500 zoological team members are committed to the care of all of the animals in our facilities, and assuring their health and well-being is a responsibility these skilled professionals take extremely seriously.

Learn about the care of our killer whales including:

• Safe and Sophisticated Habitats

• Daily Care

• Behavioral Enrichment and Training

 

Safe and Sophisticated Habitats

(4) Killer whale health starts with a safe, state-of-the-art habitat and a day filled with enriching activity. Our zoological habitats are among the largest in the world today. They are multi-million-gallon environments of continually chilled and filtered saltwater. The killer whale habitat at SeaWorld Orlando, for example, encompasses more than 6 million gallons. We also have a dedicated team of water quality experts on call 24/7 to monitor this advanced system and ensure all water quality conditions meet or exceed federal standards.

 

(5) The design of these facilities allows for the highest standards of caring for our animals safely. We invest millions of dollars in habitat maintenance and improvement and, in the last three years alone, have invested $70 million in our killer whale habitats.

 

(6) And, living in these habitats, our whales show every sign of physical fitness including healthy weight, muscle tone, respiratory efficiency, strength and heart rate. While our whales do not live the same lifestyle as their wild counterparts, this difference does not translate to negative welfare of these animals. For example, the health of a killer whale is not solely dependent on long-range swimming; wild whales must do this to search for food and new foraging grounds. Our trainers work with our whales and closely monitor and/or provide their food, exercise and other environmental enrichment activities.

 

(7) Also, the animals at SeaWorld do not face many of the challenges of wild animals. They are not subject to hunger or pollution. If they’re ill or injured, they receive veterinary care.

 

 

Daily Care

(8) We have learned a great deal about whales over the past five decades, including what measures of daily care ensure their optimum health. We provide our animals with restaurant-quality fish, exercise, veterinary care and the company of other members of their species. Their environment also is continually changed to include a wide variety of positive reinforcements and enrichment activities that keep them healthy and engaged physically, mentally and socially.

 

(9) Our SeaWorld trainers interact with each killer whale, every day. Their contact and the personal relationship it nourishes enable the training staff to become intimately familiar with each animal’s unique behavioral profile and to notice even the slightest differences in behavior that might indicate anything unusual.

 

(10) Another key component of keeping our killer whales healthy is proactive monitoring of their health as an aspect of preventative care, including blood tests and physical exams. Animals at SeaWorld have a more comprehensive preventive medicine program than most humans. Rather than just a yearly physical, the whales at SeaWorld receive complete health assessments every month.

 

(11) To make this possible with minimal discomfort – and safety for the staff – the animals have been trained to cooperate in their own care. To illustrate this with a familiar animal, imagine a pet that is trained to walk into the veterinarian’s office and, voluntarily, place its paw on the table for the doctor to draw blood. Our killer whales do the equivalent of this, voluntarily positioning their tails so that veterinarians can collect a sample. This is the direct result of our trainers and veterinarians collaborating together and working with the whales all day, every day.

 

Behavioral Enrichment and Training

(12) Our entire program is grounded in the philosophy of positive reinforcement and compassionate care. When training the whales, SeaWorld uses a variety of positive reinforcements, and what is positive for a whale can vary from day to day, and whale to whale. For instance, some whales prefer a massage or toy, some prefer a big salmon. The essence of animal training is to continually vary the reinforcement to keep the animal engaged.

 

(13) Animals are never punished, and their overall diet is never dependent on their behavioral performance.

 

(14) We recognize that these animals have evolved complex behavioral capacities and problem-solving strategies to succeed in the ocean, and we are committed to caring for their behavioral health as well as the physical. Our trainers work closely with our veterinarians and other team members to provide a holistic behavioral program that focuses on health, exercise and mental challenges.

 

(15) For example, the behavioral health program of a killer whale at SeaWorld would include training to participate in husbandry and veterinary care; exercise in the form of high jumps, fast swims, and other high-energy behaviors both in and out of shows; social interactions with other killer whales and interaction with multiple enrichment objects that challenge the animals to manipulate their environment and solve problems individually and in groups.