Animal Defenders International (ADI), the leading animal welfare organisation that works globally for the protection of animals, are saddened and frustrated to learn that ‘Sumar’, a young captive orca, has died in captivity at a SeaWorld facility in San Diego.
According to SeaWorld, 12 year old Sumar began acting lethargic on Monday and the next day he was dead.
Sumar was the son of Tilikum (Tilly), the orca who killed his trainer earlier this year and soon after this tragedy, ADI launched their Free Tilly campaign to release him back to the wild.
Jan Creamer, President of Animal Defenders International said that with two tragedies this year alone, now is the time for SeaWorld to finally realise that the unnatural existence of these wonderful creatures in their facilities is devastating the very animals that they claim to care for.
“Yet again SeaWorld creates another casualty for captive orcas with the premature death of Sumar,” Jan said.
“These magnificent, intelligent and sociable creatures live in large, complex family groups in the wild, roaming around 200kms in a day and are the kings and queens of their kingdom.
“SeaWorld keep them isolated in pools barely big enough to hold them, with little or no normal stimulation or natural interaction, and gets them to entertain people like clowns. The frustration and boredom must be excruciating.
“These captive whales are paying far too high a price for entertainment, with premature deaths and psychological problems being exhibited by these majestic creatures, with the cases of Tilly tragically killing his trainer, and now the premature death of Sumar providing conclusive examples as to why orcas should not be kept in captivity for entertainment,” Jan said.
Tilly has spent 25 years in captivity and Animal Defenders International believes that his attack was a clear indication that he was suffering from frustration and from a severely deprived environment. The premature death of Sumar points toward stress and desperation, and rather than living for decades he died very young.
The organisation has collected evidence that the use of wild animals such as this in captivity causes psychological suffering and extreme physical and mental effects.
Jan continued, “It is time that we now really ram home the message to SeaWorld to ensure that Sumar did not die in vain. Go to Freetilly.net where you can get all the facts about our Free Tilly campaign.
“Judge for yourself, sign the pledge and send a message to Sea World to let them know that you refuse to endorse the use of captive marine mammals in entertainment and let us do all we can to help free Tilly by raising awareness of the issues surrounding the keeping of marine mammals in captivity for entertainment.”
ADI are urging people to express their disapproval for the use of whales like Tilikum for entertainment in theme parks like SeaWorld by signing a pledge.
[...] indication that he was suffering from frustration and from a severely deprived environment. The premature deaths of Sumar and now Kalina points toward stress and [...]
By: ADI Wants to Know Why SeaWorld Orcas are Dying Prematurely « on October 6, 2010
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