Europe's largest dolphinarium closes: where will orcas go?
Marineland in Antibes, France, was the largest dolphinarium in Europe. However, after more than 50 years it was forced to close its doors on Sunday due to French legislation banning cetacean shows from 2026. In addition, visitor numbers have fallen sharply in recent years and the park has received many complaints about animal welfare and the conditions in which the animals are kept. Consequently, all 4,000 animals now need to be relocated. That process is going quite smoothly, only for two orcas there does not seem to be an immediate solution.
Where will 23-year-old Wikie and her son, 11-year-old Keijo, move to? No one knows for now. After all, no interested parties have been unanimously approved at this time. And releasing both orcas into the wild, besides, is not a good idea either since they never learned to hunt and would therefore die quickly in the wild. Animal protection organizations want the animals to be moved to a nature reserve, but according to the Minister of Ecological Transition, there is no reserve in the world today that can house two orcas.
(SR for Tagtik/Source: BFMTV - Le Soir/Illustration picture: Mikezwei for Pixabay)