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WILD ANIMALS ARE NOT ENTERTAINMENT

By Frank Thomas Croisdale

It's time to end stupid pet tricks at zoos, aquariums and circuses across America. Tilikum, the O.G. killer whale with three deaths now on his fins, saw to that this past week when he drowned his veteran trainer, Dawn Brancheau, by dragging her to the bottom of a tank at SeaWorld in Orlando.

Park officials were quick to announce that Tilikum, who has fathered a baker's dozen of profitable calves for the corporation, would not only be spared (good), but would resume his role of providing huge water splashes, which are the highlight of SeaWorld's daily aquatic shows (not surprising, but still sad).

If you'll pardon the pun, it's a decision that's all wet.

The argument is not against zoos and aquariums per se, if they have the funding to put together proper exhibits that showcase animals in the closest proximity to their natural habitats. It is understood that for a lot of families with limited resources, the closest look they may ever have at African wilderness is at the local zoo.

The problem arises when man's arrogance pushes our foibles onto nature's innocence. I've long grown tired of the annual Super Bowl tradition of a bevy of commercials featuring too-far-gone-for-12-step alcoholic wild animals shamelessly scheming how to get their paws on a case of Bud. One year even had a menagerie stealing an entire beer delivery truck, which elicited a host of comments like "Aw, that is so cute" from the women at the party I attended. I thought, substitute your teenage son for that zebra and see what happens to the cuteness factor, because Budweiser isn't looking to the inhabitants of the Serengeti to push the bottom line.

Wild animals are just that -- wild. Taking a 12,000-pound killer whale out of the Pacific and slapping it into a tank at SeaWorld isn't quite as benign as rescuing a retiring greyhound from the track.

It's arrogance to presume that after a period of training animals like Tilikum have been "deprogrammed" of their feral tendencies. The big bull whale supposedly was reacting to the swishing of his trainer's ponytail. He acted as nature programmed him to, and more than likely would again in a similar situation.

The worst aspect of contained wildlife is when they are subjugated into performing for the pleasure of an audience. What do dancing bears, balancing elephants and hoop-jumping dolphins have in common? The answer is that they never perform such stunts in the wild. They are taught, using corporal punishment in some cases, the aberrant behavior to serve like court jesters for the amusement of befuddled royalty.

Dawn Brancheau's death is just the latest in a long line of animal attacks on handlers and owners. Remember "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin? He was killed in September of 2006 when his heart was pierced by the spine of a stingray.

How about famed magician Roy Horn? Who can forget the horrific mauling suffered by one half of the "Siegfried & Roy" duo at the paws of a white tiger back in 2003?

Let's not forget Charla Nash, the Connecticut woman brutally attacked by a friend's 200-pound pet chimpanzee last year. The incident cost her both of her hands and her eyesight, and left her face in such disrepair that she may spend the rest of her life drinking through a straw.

It's not only human lives that are at risk. According to the Washington Post, the deaths of 23 animals over a six-year period at the National Zoo were the result of "mistakes that included neglect and misdiagnosis."

Last summer the Topeka Zoo came under fire for the deaths of four animals in their care. Currently a group of experts from across North America are conducting a review of the procedures employed by the Calgary Zoo after a series of accidents and controversial animal deaths.

Animals just aren't meant to be confined in concrete cells and glass cages. In the case of Tilikum, orcas routinely swim up to 100 miles per day in the ocean. The small holding tanks at SeaWorld have no way to replicate that, and as a result the animals suffer and their longevity rates diminish.

We can all applaud the Aquarium of Niagara, which years ago made the difficult decision to get rid of its popular dolphin exhibit when they realized that the too-small main tank was not sufficient to properly house its Atlantic bottlenose dolphin colony. It hurt their bottom line, but was the right call for the animals.

Marineland across the border is another park that has seen its share of unexplained animal deaths. Both their killer whale and beluga whale populations have been hit by unnatural deaths in recent years. After the death of Malik, a 4-year-old killer whale, Marineland faced criticism of its program.

"A nearly 4-year-old killer whale is just a baby. Marine parks claim they provide a safe and healthy environment for whales, yet the death toll keeps growing. Our inquiries suggest that more than 50 percent of all the killer whales kept by Marineland, including whales that they transferred to other facilities, are now dead," Rob Laidlaw, director of Zoocheck Canada, said at the time.

Patrick Tohill, communications director for the World Society for the Protection of Animals, said, "This most recent death clearly highlights the fact that these animals don't do well in captivity. The biological and behavioral needs of these far-ranging, deep-diving, socially complex sea mammals can't be met in aquarium tanks."

It is a sentiment shared by longtime animal activist Bob Barker. Barker has called on SeaWorld to close all of their parks and concentrate on seaside sanctuaries and coastal refuges.

In a letter to the CEO of the group controlling SeaWorld, Barker said, "The death of yet another trainer at SeaWorld did not have to happen, and I must appeal to you to take strong action now so that it never happens again. This is not the first time that a trainer has been seized, thrown against the walls of the tank, and held down to drown."

He's right, and it won't be the last time. Nor have we heard the last story of a circus animal attacking a trainer, a pet chimpanzee turning on its owner, or a magician's prop seeking to make Houdini disappear one bite at a time.

I'm not a hunter, but I know quite a few people who are. While I don't have it in my own blood to pull the trigger on an animal, I do respect the fact that hunters take on their prey in a natural setting and are willing to incur the risks that such confrontations inherently contain. There is honor when a hunter kills to eat.

There was no honor in the death of Dawn Brancheau, a woman who no doubt loved the wild creature that ended her life prematurely. Maybe it's time for us to see SeaWorld and other parks for what they really are -- entertainment that is just a disaster always waiting to happen.


Frank Thomas Croisdale is a contributing editor at the Niagara Falls Reporter and author of "Buffalo Soul Lifters." He has worked in the local tourism industry for many years. You can write him at nfreporter@roadrunner.com.

Niagara Falls Reporter www.niagarafallsreporter.com March 2, 2010