Tilikum's Story

Tilikum is a 12,500 pound and 22 feet long orca that was taken from his home in the wild and brought into captivity for entertainment. He was the first killer whale to be taken from the wild and put into captivity. He was taken when he was only two years old near Iceland, and ripped away from his family. After his capture he was held in a cement holding tank for almost a year, all he could do was swim in small circles and float at the surface of the water because the tank was too small for him. Which was far less than the 100 miles he would swim with his family in the wild. He was transferred to Sea land in British Colombia where he was forced to perform "every hour on the hour, eight times a day, seven days a week." He wasn't allowed food as a training technique, so when he didn't do a trick correctly he and his tank mates weren't allowed food. Due to that he was brutally attacked by the two female orcas that shared a tank with him, they would drag their teeth down the length of Tilikum's body.

On February 21, 1991 trainer Keltie Bryne fell into the tank with all three orcas and Tilikum pulled her to the bottom of the tank and drowned her. She was the first to die due to Tilikum's stress, frustration, and confinement. After her death Sea Land closed down and sold Tilikum to SeaWorld. where they used his sperm to create a collection of orcas and now 54% have his genes. Its so sad to think that people like this see these animals as money makers. Also that the orcas are so unhappy that they kill people. Over the years Tilikum has been involved in a number of incidents involving aggression. The stress of captivity drives him crazy which leads him to chew on metal gates and the concrete sides of the tank which has worn his teeth down to nubs. His aggression has also taken two more live. He was then confined to a very small tank and then after that he was returned to perform.

Tilikum is not the only orca whom has become aggressive due to stress. The park owns records of 600 pages of incidents with over 100 including bit, ramming, lunging at, pulling, pinning and swimming aggressively with trainers. Its not fair that these whales are forced into these conditions, they are living things. And I don't understand how after so many incidents the workers at these parks don't realize how unhappy the orcas are. That they are acting this way because they are stuck in these tanks.

Zoos in Costa Rica Closing

In June, the government announced it may close Costa Rica's two public zoos, with concerns about animals captivity and welfare. and over 400 animals living in the zoos will be moved to  private animal-rescue centers around the country, where the ones that are able with be rehabilitated and returned to the wild. "We don't want animals in captivity or enclosed in any way unless it is to rescue or save them."  said Environment Minister René Castro. In 2013 they received over 2,000 animals, that's more than they get in a whole year. "We have received so many animals this year that we have been forced to turn away animals," said Maria Pia Martin, wildlife veterinarian at Kids Saving the Rainforest. "The idea of turning down an animal is quite difficult. But we need to prioritize who we can save in order to do the best for them." said Maria Pia Martin. I think its really great that these sanctuaries are accepting so many animals and that their goal is to get as many as they can back into the wild.

Dolphin Exhibits May Close its National Aquarium in Baltimore

The National Aquarium in Baltimore has released that the may release its 8 bottlenose dolphins and  move them to a seaside sanctuary. Though the decision is not final the National Aquariums director stated ""we are studying and evaluating all possible options for providing them with the best possible living environment in the years ahead." This whole decision was decided because the Aquarium wants to shift its mission from mere tourist entertainment to becoming a major conservation organization with national recognition. they have already hired Studio gang Architects from Chicago and they are developing plans and have discussed it with dolphin and whale biologists. And even though the decision isn't final people are already celebrating. " "I applaud them for considering ALL options, including the idea of retiring the animals to a sea pen," said Naomi Rose, a cetacean biologist with the Animal Welfare Institute.

Animal Testing

Animals in laboratories live a terrible life filled with constant fear and stress, but most of all having to be put through tests almost every day of their life. The things that are done to these animals are sanctioned and legal abuse. Over 25 million animals are used in biomedical experimentation, product and cosmetic testing, and science education in the U.S. These animals include dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits, pigs, sheep, monkeys, chimpanzees, and more. However, the majority of animals in labs (over 90 percent) are rats, mice, and birds. In the laboratories there is no limit on what can happen unless the committee of that lab says so. The animals can be testing new drugs to infecting with diseases, poisoning for toxicity testing, burning skin, causing brain damage, implanting electrodes into the brain, maiming, blinding, and other painful and invasive procedures. Cause severe suffering, such as long-term social isolation, electric shocks, withholding of food and water, or repeated breeding and separating of infants from mothers.
Also some experiments require animals to be restrained  so they can't move. Some experiments require the immobilization of specific parts of the animal such as neck, pelvis, head, and legs. while other require a complete immobilization of the animals whole body.
Its inexcusable what is allowed to be done to these animals, they shouldn't be put through all this pain. And worst of all no animals should finch and have their heart start racing every time someone passes their cage.

PETA

PETA or People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals is an organization that is against animals in captivity.  The rest of this blog is PETA's view on captivity. Their view is that zoos and their cramped enclosure deprive the animals of their basic needs and that they are regularly bought, sold, borrowed, and traded with no regard to established relationships. They breed animals because the sight of baby animals brings in people, but once they grow out of their "cuteness" they are useless. Zoos still take animals from the wild and deprive hem of their basic instincts such as flying, swimming, running, hunting, climbing, scavenging, foraging, digging, exploring, and selecting a partner. Also they don't realize the physical and mental instability captivity can put on animals.
"PETA was founded in 1980 and is dedicated to establishing and defending the rights of all animals. PETA operates under the simple principle that animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment. PETA educates policymakers and the public about animal abuse and promotes kind treatment of animals. PETA is an international nonprofit charitable organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, with affiliates worldwide."

ENDCAP

ENDCAP was established in 2006 by the UK-based NGO, Born Free Foundation. Their goal is to work together for captive wild animals.

Objectives

• Operate as Europe’s united voice for captive wild animals.
• Ensure the highest possible standards of captive wild animal welfare.
• Provide high quality information on the state of captive wild animal welfare in Europe.
• Ensure European legislation effectively protects animals and prevents suffering.
• Ensure all EU Member States have access to knowledge and training to influence and achieve effective enforcement of animal protection law.
• Push for a change away from keeping wild animals in captivity in favour of keeping wildlife in the wild.

ENDCAP strives to help wild animals in aquariums, zoos, captive dolphin facilities, performance, circuses, trade specifically for pets, sanctuaries and rescue centers.

  all information from http://endcap.eu/about-us/ 

Wild Animal Protection

"We end the needless suffering of animals
We influence decision makers to put animals on the global agenda
We help the world see how important animals are to all of us
We inspire people to change animals’ lives for the better
We move the world to protect animals."

The Wild Animal Protection is a global organization that works with the greatest partners in more that 50 countries. They work to end the needless suffering of animals and inspire people to change animals’ lives for the better.

Virtual Reality Technology

There is a new way to see marine wildlife without putting them in captivity, its called Curiscope. The Great White Shark experience has a 360 degree virtual reality  that's puts the spectator in the presence of virtual sharks in their natural habitats outside of a cramped aquarium tank.
 Aquariums and marine parks are  part of a for-profit industry built on the suffering of intelligent beings.  The Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Japan took a great white shark out of the wild and put it in an aquarium. After only three days in captivity it died. The public were horrified and disgusted. Finally something is being done! This new virtual technology will prevent something like this from happening again.  An article from Innovative Virtual Reality Technology Could End Captivity for Sea Animals said "Curiscope’s groundbreaking use of virtual reality technology points to a future in which viewing sea animals is a far more educational, accessible and immersive experience than watching sad, frustrated captives in a glass box."

Animals Almost Drown

Russia was hit with heavy flooding earlier this year, which affected humans and animals. The Zelyony Ostrov Park Zoo was hit badly with rain, as the water began to rise bears, wolves, and other animals were trapped in their cages with no way out. the ones who didn't drown had to hold their heads above the water for a long period of time. the animals were fed whit bread just too keep them alive and vodka to try and help keep them warm. The zoo was not prepared for this disaster, even though they have experienced flooding before. And the animals couldn't be rescued because the doors were underneath the water and no one could reach them. The Zelyony Ostrov Park Zoo was not the only zoo hit, another one in in Borissovka, 27 animals drowned while trapped in their cages.
Instead of moving these animals to sanctuaries after being rescued, they were put back into captivity in city park in Ussuriysk, located in the Russian Far East. According to photos in the Siberian Times, the animals are living in even smaller enclosures than before. 

      

Germany Zoo's

These are pictures of zoos in Germany, they were taken by  Elias Hassos. and he expressed his feelings about zoos in these pictures. someone saw his pictures and was immediately drawn to them, and to find out more they asked. He said, "With our selection of zoos, we tried to cover all varieties of German zoos—the classic, the modern, the very sad ones, the wildlife park. I wanted to show the living conditions of the animals and how the animals feel in their human-designed spaces.” Through these images Elias, conveyed how he felt, that these animals should be put in cages, he wants us to create and save a planet to have enough space and living conditions they are used to. " I am drawn to portraits—of beings. I always try to connect from soul to soul. I want people to see and treat animals as beings and not as objects.” said Elias Hassos.

Ask yourself this question the next time you go to the zoo.

Bull Set Free!

This is the most heart warming video. This bull has been chained up all its life, and experiences being free for the first time. You have to watch this, It will definitely make you smile.

Facts about Captive Dolphins and Whales

 

(all information gathered from http://www.bornfreeusa.org/facts.php?p=2688&more=1)

1. There are over 500 whales, dolphins and species in the dolphin family held captive in the United States.
2. Before the passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) in 1972, there were about 1,133 dolphins that were taken from waters in the U.S. and 138 orcas were taken between 1964 and 1989. The MMPA is making it more difficult to capture aquatic mammals from the wild, the aquariums still can apply the permits and paperwork to do it in other countries.
3. although marine parks claim they are protecting endangered species in captivity through their breeding programs, but they normally breed the animals that aren't endangered or threatened.
4. Aquariums most of the time don't return the captive breed animals back into the wild.

 

 

This is the perception of a lot of people. The question of what will we do if we don't have zoos, and aquariums and circuses to show our children. And we need to fight against this perception if there is any chance to end the misery for these animals.

We have to remember that even though we think going to the zoo is fun for us, its not the same for them. They don't feel like they are at home anymore. They feel like they are in a cage and they will never get out.

Captivity Pros and Cons

     Zoo Cons

• Maggie the elephant,  was forced to stay in a small metal enclosure due to the freezing temperatures until the Alaska zoo closed its doors in 2007 , and refused to use the elephant sized treadmill the zoo gave her so she could exercise.
• At the National Zoo in Washington D.C. zebras starved to death due to the lack of food and being given the wrong food
• At that same zoo red pandas died because they ingested rat poison
• Even though zoos have gotten rid of the metal barred cages and replaced them with more natural looking places, David Hancock's, a zoo consultant and former zoo director, says "its a mere illusion" that they aren't improved space wise. Animals are showing signs of severe distress: Elephants bobbing their heads, bears pacing back and forth and wild cats obsessively grooming themselves.
• many of the animals have precise needs that need to be carried out and the zookeepers are just beginning to understand what they are.
• "Of 145 reintroduction programs carried out by zoos in the last century, only 16 truly succeeded in restoring populations to the wild" "About two-thirds of them were actually strong enough to survive in the wild" (http://www.globalanimal.org/2014/11/19/are-zoos-good-or-bad/)
• People are starting to notice zoos aren't benefitting people as much anymore. they will be talking about something completely different and will only spend a few moments at each display.

      Zoo Pros

• Zoos have improved significantly over the past 4,000 years.
• the old metal bar and cold cement cages have been replaced by "natural-looking barriers like moats or ditches to separate animals from people, and have mini-habitats that resemble the animals’ natural environment."
• Some zoos are taking in abandoned animals, the Baltimore and Detroit zoos have taken in polar bears from a traveling zoo and the Bronx zoo has taken in a snow leopard that was abandoned.
• "although zoo animals aren’t treated quite like guests at a four-star hotel, their care has improved tremendously." Zookeepers have realized that animals need to be engaged in activities to prevent boredom and mental deterioration.
• Zoos don't just entertain they try to engage learning.

Its definitely a toss up whether zoos are benefitting or not. I personally feel that most zoos are bad. Limiting their animals to roam only as far as their cage goes, and zookeepers not fully educated in what each species needs on a day to day basis. Animals should be able to roam as far as they feel and not be tormented by people tapping on their cages trying to get their attention or throwing things into their enclosures, when whatever they are throwing in there could endanger the animal.