An Ocean Apart
Does keeping large animals in aquariums and zoos foster social benefits like education and conservation, or is it unethical, sending the wrong message to young minds? Read what two people have to say about both sides of the issue.
Suzanne Gendron is Executive Director of Zoological Operations and Education at Ocean Park, Hong Kong.
[1] Zoos, aquariums, and marine parks have been widely and rightly recognized by the public and by governments for their long-standing contributions to marine education and protection of ocean wildlife and habitats. Worldwide, good zoos and aquariums host over 600 million visitors each year, and in Hong Kong alone, close to 5 million people visit Ocean Park annually. For all these people, zoos and aquariums are a resource for wildlife education, motivators for environmental stewardship, and a place for family recreation.
[2] At Ocean Park Academy, over 35,000 schoolchildren participate each year in our courses. They include children with special financial needs and children from schools in remote areas. Guests can also participate in our animal encounter programme, which gives them a chance to see some of Asia’s rarest animals. Even our restaurants display information panels that advocate wise seafood choices in support of sustainable agricultural and fisheries practices.
[3] Polls and studies confirm that seeing living, breathing animals in zoological facilities inspires children and adults to care about protecting marine mammals and their declining ocean environments. A poll taken in 2005 found that the public was nearly unanimous in its acclaim for the educational impact of marine life parks, zoos, and aquariums. Many respondents agreed that the experience of seeing animals in zoos could not be replicated by film or television.
[4] A recent study by Dr. Lance Miller, a behavioral biologist with the San Diego Zoo, demonstrated an increase in conservation-related knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions immediately after guests viewed a dolphin show. Three months later, in the next round of interviews, these guests reported that they were engaging in more conservation-related behavior since their dolphin show experience. They also retained what they had learned. These findings echo those of a study conducted at Ocean Park about our dolphin interactive programme where, three months after their participation, guests’ positive attitudes towards the environment were still stronger than before the programme.
[5] Most Hong Kong families live in urban settings, increasingly withdrawn into an electronic world of computer downloads, satellite media, and video games. Children are losing touch with nature and the animal world. In a time of environmental challenges, zoos and aquariums are vital links to nature and wildlife. They connect real-life people and real-life animals, and foster the understanding that it is more important now than ever before to conserve our natural environment.
[6] Saving the planet’s biodiversity is increasingly more challenging. It is through good zoos and aquariums that children, families, and communities can meet nature’s ambassadors. Through these connections, they will help save the wild places and wild animals so that future generations will appreciate the thrill of nature.
Peter Singer is Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne.
[7] In February 2010, at the Sea World amusement park in Florida, USA, a whale grabbed a trainer, Dawn Brancheau, pulled her underwater, and thrashed about with her. By the time rescuers arrived, Brancheau was dead. 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, 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?
[8] 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 aquarium at night, when Sea World was closed, was found dead in the pool with Tilly. An autopsy showed he had a bite mark. One of Tilly’s offspring, sold to an amusement park in Europe, has also killed a trainer, as have whales in other parks.
[9] Richard Ellis, a marine conservationist at the American Museum of Natural History, believes orcas (a particular species of whales) are smart and would not do such a thing purely on impulse. “This was premeditated,” he said. 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. Orcas are social mammals, and he would have been living with his mother and other relatives in a group. The sudden separation was probably traumatic for Tilly.
[10] Moreover, the degree of confinement in aquariums 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 Defence Fund, described keeping a six-tonne whale in Sea World’s tanks as akin to keeping a human in a bathtub for his entire life.
[11] But if we are pointing the finger at Sea World, we should also look more broadly at the way we confine performing animals. In most zoos, visitors see bored animals pacing back and forth in cages, with nothing to do but wait for the next meal.
[12] 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. Undercover investigations have repeatedly shown animals being beaten and given electric shocks.
[13] 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 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 that we should be seeking to teach children.
[14] 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. If the public will not pay to see them, the businesses that profit from keeping animals captive will not be able to continue.
