Tag Archives: aquarium

Mexico City Bill Outlaws Whale And Dolphin Performances

August 7, 2017 The Silo Leave a comment

Mexico City, Mexico – In Defense of Animals has welcomed a landmark bill that prohibits the use of dolphins for entertainment. The Legislative Assembly of Mexico City passed a bill on Tuesday August 1, 2017, that outlaws cetacean performances and training, as well as whale and dolphin use in research or therapy.

“This landmark ban will spare generations of animals from cruelty and sends a clear message that the public increasingly rejects dolphin captivity,” said Dr. Toni Frohoff, Cetacean Scientist for In Defense of Animals. “We thank Mexico City officials for recognizing our Ten Worst Tanks list and acting swiftly to end the abuse. We urge Six Flags to retire the dolphins at a seaside sanctuary where they may recover.”

Mexico City Six Flags photo: Martin Lewison

Dolphin advocate Yolanda Alaniz, of Comarino Mexico, held a press conference with Environment Commission President, Xavier López Adame. “All parties, from rights to strong lefts voted just as one,” said Alaniz. “Deputies recognized dolphins as sentient beings who suffer living in concrete tanks. Politics spoke with ethics, and marked a new way to follow for our country, and we will follow this path.”

Two bottlenose dolphins and two sea lions will be directly affected by the new law. The dolphins are confined to a barren tank set in the middle of the Six Flags Mexico amusement park, the only facility in Mexico City that currently holds cetaceans captive. Previously known as Reino Aventura, the park is infamous for holding Keiko, the now-deceased orca used in the film “Free Willy”. The park ranked second worst in Mexico and sixth place overall on In Defense of Animals Ten Worst Tanks list.

For years, the dolphins have been regularly forced to perform circus acts as loud music blares. The dolphins have also been used for swim-with programs, where they are trained to perform contrived behaviors that simulate affection and sociability toward the paying public. The animals are coerced to give rides where people grab and hang onto their dorsal and pectoral fins and to give “kisses,” “hugs” and “handshakes.”

Six Flags Mexico is owned by Dolphin Discovery, a Mexican company that runs at least 24 captive dolphin facilities internationally. For the Silo, Toni Frohoff, Ph.D.

For more information, please see www.idausa.org/10worsttanks

Featured image- Martin Lewison.

In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization with over 250,000 supporters and a 30-year history of fighting for animals, people and the environment through education, campaigns and hands-on rescue facilities in India, Africa, and rural Mississippi.

IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS • 3010 KERNER BLVD. • SAN RAFAEL, CA 94901 • 415-448-0048 Please mention the Silo when contacting.

Earth

Animal Organizations Plead For Dolphins Exclusion In New Mississippi Aquarium

June 13, 2017 The Silo Leave a comment

Gulfport, Miss. – Last week, 19 international animal protection organizations joined forces for World Oceans Day to plead for dolphins to be excluded from the new Mississippi Aquarium, slated to open in 2019. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Born Free Foundation, and Sonar are among the organizations that signed In Defense of Animals’ letter on behalf of the dolphins to Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes and Gulfport Redevelopment Commission Chairperson, Carole Lynn Meadows. Over 175,000 people have now spoken out against the plans to keep captive dolphins at the Mississippi Aquarium.

“Animal organizations are uniting on World Oceans Day to urge Mayor Hewes to keep dolphins in the oceans where they belong,” said In Defense of Animals cetacean scientist, Dr. Toni Frohoff. “There is simply no justification for keeping these highly intelligent and sensitive animals captive. Animal entertainment is quickly going out of fashion, making any new investment into it a very bad idea.”

Major public opposition has been building against the planned dolphin exhibit at the Mississippi Aquarium in recent months. Over 15,000 In Defense of Animals supporters have written to Hewes and Meadows since the plans were revealed. A former dolphin trainer at Gulfport’s Marine Life Oceanarium has amassed almost 160,000 supporters for her petition calling on Mississippi Governor Bryant not to redirect $17 million of BP deepwater drilling disaster restoration funds to build the Aquarium.

Mississippi Aquarium’s choice of President, David Kimmel (formerly CEO of the Georgia Aquarium) is almost as controversial as the plan to display captive dolphins. Under Kimmel’s tenure, Georgia Aquarium made an extremely controversial attempt to capture and import 18 wild beluga whales from Russia.

“So long as Mississippi Aquarium plans to exploit dolphins, opposition will continue to grow,” said Dr. Frohoff. “City planners should heed the alarm bells before it is too late. The Aquarium is burdened with a controversial President, questionable ability to find funding, competition with existing and new aquariums, and is relying on roughly $57usd million of taxpayer dollars before it has even opened its doors. Keeping dolphins alive in captivity presents a significant financial burden, and in light of declining revenues at SeaWorld, it is simply not worth gambling away Gulfport money.”

While opposition to dolphin captivity grows in Mississippi, a sea-change is being felt across the country and around the world. SeaWorld ended orca breeding last year and announced that it is phasing out orca captivity in all three of its parks in Florida, Texas, and California. Last month, the Vancouver Aquarium was banned from keeping or breeding cetaceans, and now the Canadian Senate is considering a nationwide ban on cetacean captivity. France and India are among several countries that have put laws in place to protect dolphins and other cetaceans from being held captive in recent years. For the Silo, Fleur Dawes.

For more information, please visit www.idausa.org/dolphins

Featured image: travelblog.org

How do you feel about dolphins and other sea life being held and displayed in aquariums and other indoor/outdoor stadiums? Leave your comments below.

www.idausa.org/10WorstTanks

www.thepetitionsite.com/353/506/007

Culture

Zoos Are Consumers Of Elephants Not Conservers

February 6, 2017 The Silo Leave a comment

In Defense of Animals has released its respected annual list of the Ten Worst Zoos For Elephants for 2016, exposing the shocking hidden suffering of elephants in zoos in North America. The list reveals captivity-related deaths, abuse with weapons, grossly inadequate conditions, families ripped apart, elephants torn from Africa and shipped to US zoos, elephants forced to wash cars, and even elephants found playing with a car battery.

“2016 was a shocking year for zoo elephant suffering”, said In Defense of Animals President, Dr. Marilyn Kroplick. “In our zoos, elephants’ rights are violated, they are stripped of their dignity, and submitted to disgusting abuses. We owe it to elephants to stop exploiting them. It is time to shut down archaic and barbaric zoo exhibits, and retire elephants to sanctuaries where they can live in peace.”

Zoos all over the US and one zoo in Canada appear on the worst list, with Oklahoma City Zoo shamed as the #1 Worst Zoo. Tragic captive elephant Chai was found dead outside the Oklahoma elephant exhibit on a very cold January morning in 2016, at just 37 years old. She had lost 1,000 pounds since she was shipped in from Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Gut-wrenching footage reveals Chai in a severely emaciated and weak state, being hoisted on a crane after she was unable to stand up. After her death, Chai was found to have been suffering from a bacterial infection and untreated pus-filled abscesses, marking a gross failing of the zoo to provide basic animal care.

Chai’s only friend Bamboo survives her, and has since had two inches of her tail bitten off by another frustrated elephant in their prison-like pen. Bamboo has been kept in either in solitary confinement with the aggressive female, or in the occasional company of a young male; none of these circumstances constitute even reasonable social companionship. Yet Oklahoma Zoo callously describes this sad elephant inmate as doing “great”.

Chai and Bamboo are not the only victims of Oklahoma Zoo’s mismanagement. Baby elephant Malee died at in late 2015 at the age of just four. She was likely killed by the same herpes virus the zoo knew Chai and Bamboo had been exposed to.

All these tragedies may have been avoided by sending Chai and Bamboo to a sanctuary home that offered to accept the pair when Woodland Park Zoo shut down its elephant exhibit in 2014.

Shockingly, Oklahoma City Zoo is among half of all the captive facilities shamed on the Ten Worst Zoos List that are accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, showing how little AZA certification stands for. In 2016, the Association’s own study found social aspects of elephant lives to be of paramount importance to their wellbeing, yet 20% of AZA accredited zoos with elephant exhibits have only two elephants. Some AZA certified zoos are even keeping highly social elephants in isolation, such as the Bronx Zoo, where Happy the female elephant is tragically separated from two other females.

Zoos are consumers, not conservers, of elephants. Captive elephants are dying faster than they can reproduce, leading zoos to steal young elephants from the wild, which destroys the elephant societies zoos claim to be conserving. Behind the scenes, zoos in the US and Canada are condemning Earth’s largest land mammals to lifetimes of deprivation, disease, despair, and early death. It is time to end our shameful exploitation of elephants in American zoos.

10 WORST ZOOS:

1. Oklahoma City Zoo, Oklahoma

2. Natural Bridge Zoo, Rockbridge County, Virginia

3. Honolulu Zoo, Hawaii

4. Edmonton Valley Zoo, Alberta, Canada

5. Oregon Zoo, Portland, Oregon

6. Buffalo Zoo, Buffalo, New York

7. Wildlife Safari, Winston, Oregon

8. Pittsburgh Zoo, Pennsylvania

9. Milwaukee County Zoo, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

10. Fort Worth Zoo, Fort Worth, Texas

HALL OF SHAME

Buttonwood Park Zoo, New Bedford, Massachusetts

DISHONORABLE MENTION

Bronx Zoo, Bronx, New York

For the Silo, Toni Frohoff, Ph.D. For more information, please visit http://www.idausa.org/tenworstzoos2016

In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization with over 250,000 supporters and a 30-year history of fighting for animals, people and the environment through education, campaigns and hands on rescue facilities in India, Africa, and rural Mississippi.

IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS • 3010 KERNER BLVD. • SAN RAFAEL, CA 94901 • 415-448-0048 Please mention thesilo.ca when calling.

Earth

Niagara Falls Ontario Marineland Shamed As Worst Aquarium In Canada

July 20, 2016 The Silo 4 Comments

International animal protection organization, In Defense of Animals, today released its list of the Ten Worst Tanks for Dolphins and Whales in North America, with Ontario’s Marineland shamed as the worst aquarium in Canada, and second overall.

The facility is listed as having the ‘starkest contrast’ between a ‘solitary orca and beluga whale hoarding’ while Canada’s Vancouver Aquarium appears in ninth place. The Ten Worst Tanks list exposes and represents the misery and suffering of the oceans’ most intelligent and complex mammals in captivity. Whales and dolphins are subject to astonishing rates of premature death, captivity-related injuries, forced removal of babies from mothers, and solitary isolation. Many are confined to swimming endless circles in cramped tanks, deprived of healthy social groups, and forced to endure invasive reproduction techniques, polluted water, dangerous transport, and brutal exploitation of their sociable natures through “swim” and “petting” programs.

The list was selected from over 60 facilities from southern Canada to Mexico where almost 1,000 whales and dolphins are held captive for public display. “Forcing an orca to live in solitary confinement while hoarding so many beluga whales is Marineland’s tragic dichotomy, and a horrific example of cetacean captivity. It plumbs the depths in its exploitation of intelligent and sensitive animals,” said In Defense of Animals President, Dr. Marilyn Kroplick. “Even with the most modern technology, veterinary care, and infrastructure, cetaceans still suffer intensely in captivity and exhibit surprisingly high mortality rates.Please help protect dolphins and whales in the wild where they belong, by pledging to never visit facilities that imprison them.”

40+ yr old Orca "Kiska" has been in solitary confinement since 2011. — 40+ yr old Orca “Kiska” has been in solitary confinement since 2011. photo: Natalie Lucier

Marineland’s Shame: Marineland holds Canada’s last captive orca, 40 or so year-old Kiska, who was ripped away from her family and native Icelandic waters when she was a baby. Kiska has outlived at least seventeen other orcas with whom she has shared the tank over the years. She has also been used to breed for new exhibits, enduring the death of every last one of her five children at Marineland, none of whom lived longer than six years. One of them, Kanuck, was apparently separated from her prematurely and “stored” in a warehouse, where he died at age four. Since 2011, Kiska has been kept in solitary confinement, which has no doubt caused great suffering for this highly social and intelligent cetacean. The last orca Kiska knew was a male named Ikaika, who was “loaned” to Marineland by SeaWorld for breeding in 2006.

SeaWorld became “concerned about Ikaika’s physical and psychological health” and stated that Marineland was “not meeting its obligations in veterinary care, husbandry, or training.” Citing these concerns, SeaWorld successfully sued Marineland in 2011 for Ikaika’s return, leaving Kiska alone once more. Kiska’s physical and psychological condition appears to be poor. Observers point to her severely worn down teeth from self-injurious and compulsive gnawing, dorsal fin deterioration, signs of being underweight, and intermittent bleeding from her tail as indicators of greatly compromised health. Behaviorally, Kiska exhibits lethargy, self-isolation in a tiny medical pool adjacent to the main pool, and repetitive stereotyped behaviors; strong indications of severe psychological distress, depression, and despondency. Kiska is not the only animal suffering at Marineland.

CEO John Holer has also amassed approximately 46 beluga whales, five bottlenose dolphins, 28 black bears and approximately 500 fallow deer. An undercover investigation by Last Chance for Animals in 2015 reportedly exposed belugas suffering from a litany of physical ailments, including eye abnormalities, hypersalivation, regurgitation, and a condition in some of the females causing them to rub chronically against the tank until blood was visible in the water. Lacerations and deep teeth-rake marks indicating inescapable stress-related aggression from other belugas were also noted on many of the belugas. We are also concerned about signs of severe eye irritation perhaps caused by chemically-treated water.

Later in 2015, the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) made a non-public finding that questioned some of Last Chance for Animals’ claims of abuses at Marineland. But Julie Woodyer of Zoocheck has filed a new complaint with the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals documenting continued violations of the Captive Animal Care Standards at Marineland.

In Defense of Animals President, Dr. Marilyn Kroplick.

We urge the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to act urgently to enforce minimum standards at Marineland. Belugas have certainly not evolved for millions of years to be packed into a tank – and orcas are among the most social and family-oriented species on the planet.

10 WORST TANKS: 1. SeaWorld, San Antonio, Texas; San Diego, California; Orlando, Florida 2. Marineland, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada 3. Puerto Aventuras Dolphin Discovery, Mayan Riviera, Quinta Roo, Mexico 4. Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta, Georgia 5. Miami Seaquarium, Miami, Florida 6. Six Flags Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico 7. Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, Gulfport, Mississippi and Unnamed new facility planned by same owner also in Gulfport, Mississippi 8. Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada 9. Vancouver Aquarium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 10. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago, Illinois

Dishonorable Mention: Dophinaris, Scottsdale, Arizona

Honorable Mention: National Aquarium, Baltimore, Maryland

The Ten Worst Tanks list was produced over the past year by multiple cetacean experts and scientists to represent the myriad horrors faced by cetaceans in captivity. Facilities were examined and investigated in-person; through review of government records, veterinary records, and death reports; and via image and data documentation. For more information please visit: www.idausa.org/10WorstTanks

In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization located in San Rafael, Calif. dedicated to protecting animals’ rights, welfare, and habitats through education, outreach, and our hands-on rescue facilities in India, Africa, and rural Mississippi. For the Silo, Toni Frohoff, Ph.D.

Politics

Ontario Strengthens Protections For Marine Mammals Including Pool Size

February 9, 2015 The Silo 1 Comment

Ontario will be the first province to set specific standards of care for marine mammals Image: Spock mind melds in Star Trek IV. — Ontario will be the first province to set specific standards of care for marine mammals

Ontario is moving ahead with enhanced standards of care for marine mammals – such as dolphins, belugas and walruses – to ensure both greater protection and improved treatment.

These new standards of care, reflecting advice from an expert report by University of British Columbia marine biologist Dr. David Rosen, will be among the best in the world.

New standards would be developed in a number of areas including:

The size of pools used to house marine mammals
Environmental considerations such as bacteria content, noise and lighting
Appropriate social groupings
Regulations for the handling and display of marine mammals

The government will establish a technical advisory group composed of veterinarians, animal welfare groups, industry, and enforcement partners to provide advice on the final standards and timing of their implementation. This group will report back with their findings within six months.

The government will also be moving forward with legislation to prohibit the future breeding and acquisition of orcas (killer whales) and establish Animal Welfare Committees at every facility with marine mammals. These committees will provide both oversight and access to additional protections such as veterinarians with expertise in marine mammals.

John Lennon "Walrus advocate" — John Lennon “Walrus advocate”

“Our government is moving forward with stronger protections for marine mammals to ensure these unique animals receive the best possible treatment and care. This is something that Ontarians expect and these animals deserve. These higher standards of care, along with prohibiting any future breeding or acquisition of orcas in Ontario, are both the right thing to do and builds on our government’s ongoing efforts to have the strongest animal protection laws in Canada.”
Yasir Naqvi, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services

QUICK FACTS

Ontario will be the first province to set specific standards of care for marine mammals.
Ontario has the toughest animal protection laws in Canada.
There are over 60 zoos and aquariums in Ontario — more than any other province.
Ontario provides the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) with $5.5 million annually to strengthen the protection of animals.

LEARN MORE

Find out about the work of the OSPCA

Read the University of British Columbia Report on Standards of Care for Marine Mammals in Captivity
Ministère de la Sécurité communautaire et des Services correctionnels

L’Ontario renforce la protection des mammifères marins

La province prend des mesures pour mieux protéger les mammifères marins et interdire l’acquisition et la reproduction en captivité des épaulards

L’Ontario va de l’avant avec des normes de soins améliorées pour les mammifères marins – dont les dauphins, les bélugas et les morses – afin d’assurer à ces animaux à la fois une plus grande protection et un meilleur traitement.

Ces nouvelles normes de soins, fondées sur les recommandations d’un rapport d’expert rédigé par David Rosen, un biologiste respecté spécialisé en vie marine de l’Université de Colombie-Britannique, seront parmi les plus rigoureuses au monde
De nouvelles normes seront ainsi élaborées sur divers sujets, dont les suivants :

Taille des bassins utilisés pour garder les mammifères marins;
Facteurs environnementaux, comme la teneur en bactéries, le bruit et l’éclairage;
Groupements sociaux appropriés;
Règlements relatifs à la manipulation et à l’exposition des mammifères marins

Le gouvernement mettra en place un groupe consultatif technique, composé de vétérinaires ainsi que de représentants de groupes de protection des animaux, de l’industrie et de partenaires de l’application de la loi, pour fournir des conseils sur les normes définitives et sur le calendrier de leur mise en œuvre. Ce groupe communiquera ses conclusions dans un délai de six mois.

Le gouvernement ira aussi de l’avant avec une nouvelle législation pour interdire la reproduction en captivité et l’acquisition de ces animaux à l’avenir et pour établir des comités pour la protection des animaux dans tous les établissements où se trouvent des mammifères marins.

Ces comités seront chargés de la supervision et fourniront des protections additionnelles, dont l’accès à des vétérinaires spécialisés dans les mammifères marins.

CITATIONS

« Notre gouvernement va de l’avant en renforçant la protection des mammifères marins afin que ces animaux uniques reçoivent les meilleurs soins et traitements possibles. C’est ce à quoi s’attendent les Ontariens et aussi ce que ces animaux méritent. Ces normes de soins plus rigoureuses et l’interdiction d’acquérir et de reproduire en captivité des épaulards à l’avenir en Ontario sont des mesures appropriées qui s’inscrivent dans le cadre des efforts continus de notre gouvernement visant à doter l’Ontario des lois les plus rigoureuses du Canada pour la protection des animaux. »

Yasir Naqvi, ministre de la Sécurité communautaire et des Services correctionnels

FAITS EN BREF

L’Ontario possède la législation la plus rigoureuse du Canada pour la protection des animaux.
Il y a plus de 60 zoos et aquariums en Ontario — plus que dans toute autre province du Canada.
La province accorde à la Société de protection des animaux de l’Ontario une subvention de 5,5 millions de dollars par an pour renforcer la protection des animaux.

POUR EN SAVOIR DAVANTAGE

Renseignez-vous sur le travail de la SPAO (en anglais seulement)
Lisez le Rapport de l’Université de la Colombie-Britannique sur les normes de soins pour les mammifères marins en captivité

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