Row deepens over European sanctuary

The future future of two deadly whales is not closer to a solution Although their house was closed in the marine zoo two months ago.

Wiki, 23, and her 11 -year -old son Kigu, is still in Marineland Antibes, in southern France, after being closed in January because of a coming law prohibiting the use of Orcas in offers.

Marinland managers have tried to send deadly whales to other marine zoos, but this angered by animal rights activists who want to house them in a haven, as Orcas will not have to perform or use it to reproduce.

Orcas was expected to go to another marine zoo in Spain when the French government refused to move to a proposed resort in Canada a few weeks ago.

But now Agnès Pannier-Runacher, French Environment Minister, said that she will speak to colleagues in Spain, Italy and Greece about creating a different haven together. However, its proposal has a few other details and has been criticized.

When I asked the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Ministry of Environment did not have any information about the whereabouts of a haven or who would finance construction and operation costs.

“The current proposal was” completely inappropriate “and that they were the best position to care for them.

Christophe Kisling, Vice President of the facility in Tenervy, said that the whale reserves “are currently unable to meet the complex physiological, social and environmental needs” of the deadly whales.

Most of the designs include encircling the Gulf and employing employees to guarantee Wiki and Keijo – who were born in captivity and cannot be released in the wild – properly and carefully.

Kiessnging has said that such a solution may be possible if there is more research and planning, but “this process may take years, leaving Marinland two [orcas] In a facility to be deported. “

Activists note that many Orkas died in Lauro Park in the past few years, including three between March 2021 and September 2022.

Directors of the Marine Zoo said that the scientific examination of those ORCAS by the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria showed that the deaths are inevitable.

They are also afraid that Wiki may be used for education. Lauro Park announced in January that Morgan, the only female in the three Urkas currently preserved there, is pregnant.

Catherine Wise, from the protection of global charitable animals, said that Lauro Parko was eventually an entertainment company that used Orcas to earn money.

She added: “Morgan’s pregnancy confirms the fact that Lauro Park cannot be a suitable option for Wikie and Keijo and must be removed as an option.”

Marinland, who are still pushing to take care of Orcas, said that the move to Loro Parki as soon as possible was in the interest of animal welfare. They have asked the Ministry of Environment to approve transportation.

The Pisces in Canada applied to the French government to take OCS last year, but their offer was rejected in January.

They were informed of the site they chose in Nova Scotia was very far away and that the water there was very cold for Wikie and Keijo, who spent all their lives in southern France.

After the Pannier-Runacher’s proposal to obtain a haven in Europe, which it announced two weeks ago in a video on Instagram, the Canadian project managers criticized the idea that the person who was built in the Mediterranean Sea.

They wrote a letter to her in which Dr. David Beribian, a diplomat at the European College of Zoology, said: “Wiki and Kejo are Iceland. These two Orcas do not belong to the environmental patterns that were seen in the Mediterranean.”

He added: “The possibility of building a haven for them in the Mediterranean may be the worst possible options.”

The directors also said, unlike the European proposal, their haven was ready to start construction as the design was already completed.

Other animal rights groups were more welcome to the Pannier-Runaracher advertisement, saying that a European haven would remain better for OCAS luxury instead of life in another marine zoo.

Sea Shepherd, the Naval Preservation Association, answered the Minister on Instagram, saying that this is an opportunity to achieve what you call the “impossible” zoo industry – building a protected ocean where OCAS can enjoy the rest of their lives.

Pannier-Runacher said in her video that she was fully aware of the strong feelings that people had around where Wiki and Kejo should be re-equipped.

She did not rule out their sending to Lauro Parki or other marine zoos, only that she “opposes any transfer to an inappropriate site to accommodate” OCAS.

Last November, it prevented a request from Marineland to send deadly whales to a marine zoo in Japan, noting the country’s low animal care regulations.

“The Year” is currently running in France, a government initiative to increase awareness of the importance of the ocean, and Pannier-Runacher believes that creating a European whale haven will be an appropriate testimony to this.

“I don’t tell you that he will work,” she told Instagram users. “But nothing is ventured, nothing is gained.”