SeaWorld Will Stop Breeding Orca Whales in Captivity
After a long, sustained campaign by animal rights activists, the theme park's CEO has announced it will end its captive orca breeding program.
Milian Boers / CC-BY-2.0
Milian Boers / CC-BY-2.0
After a long, sustained campaign by animal rights activists, SeaWorld has announced it will stop breeding orca whales in captivity.
The Guardian reports:
“By making this the last generation of orcas in our care and reimagining how guests will experience these beautiful animals, we are fulfilling our mission of providing visitors to our parks with experiences that matter,” said Joel Manby, president and CEO of SeaWorld Entertainment Inc.
The breeding program will end immediately, and the killer whales currently at its parks will be the last, Manby said.
The Orlando-based theme park operator has faced falling visitor numbers and years of criticism over its treatment of the captive marine mammals as well as pressure from animal rights activists.
Peta director Mimi Bekhechi welcomed the news, but called for those still in captivity to be allowed ocean access.
“SeaWorld must open its tanks to the oceans to allow the orcas it now holds captive to have some semblance of a life outside these prison tanks,” said Bekhechi in a statement.
Read more here.
—Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.
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Despite cutting ticket prices and spending $10 million on a marketing blitz, SeaWorld has suffered an 84 percent collapse in profits as customers have deserted the theme park following claims that it mistreated orca whales.
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