AT NORTH-AMERICAN CONGRESS

A debate is about to happen at North-American Congress about a subject that used to be ignored: what is the utility of the zoos and aquatic parks to North-American people? Do these places have any educative component, like they announce, or they are just entertainment and animal exploitation centers?

The death of the dolphin and whale trainer Dawn Brancheau, at SeaWorld Park, Florida, on February 24, opened this debate and the person in charge for the park had to go to the congress a few days ago to explain the accident and the work developed by the park.

The parks and zoos’ lobby, through democrat representative Alan Frayson, from Florida, started to act, arguing that the six aquatic parks in the state offer jobs to 10 thousand people and that their closing would cause a major economic impact.

According to a research of newspaper USA Today, in the last decade three people were killed and 16 were wounded by attacks of marine animals in North-American parks. Of the total of 23 orca whales in captivity, three of them, including Tilikum, the one that killed the trainer, are involved in several accidents with their keepers and the audience.

According to North-American congress men, zoos and aquatic parks for entertainment and opened to the public can only be justified if there is a clear and substantial educational component for the youth. On the contrary, they would be centers for torture of animals, causing a lot of disturbs to them, what happens in the majority of these places today.

 
Dr. Pedro A Ynterian
President, GAP Project International