Free Willy? Free Tilli

You can take an animal out of the wild, but you can’t take the wild out of an animal.

Tillikum, a killer whale, was implicated in the death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau last Wednesday after he pulled her into his tank where she drowned.

Tillikum was blamed for the death of a trainer in 1991 and a man in 1999 as well. It should also be noted that all of the whales participating in SeaWorld’s show last Wednesday were not cooperating with the trainers, which shows that Brancheau’s death was not a freak accident, but rather a manifestation of the larger issue at hand: the keeping of animals, especially large, predatory animals, in captivity.

Other SeaWorld trainers are attempting to gloss over the underlying problem by chalking Brancheau’s death up to her “swinging ponytail.” It’s possible that Brancheau’s hairstyle was responsible for triggering a menacing sense of playfulness in Tillikum, but that only solidifies the conviction that animals should be free to reside in their natural habitats.

Animals don’t thrive in artificial habitats — they simply survive. Animals clearly cannot have careers, so their ability to achieve comes from hunting and braving the expansive great outdoors, neither of which is possible for a creature residing in a zoo or aquarium.

An additional example of nonsensical zoo practices is the practice of the Brookfield Zoo near Chicago, which has polar bears fumble around with a plastic bucket. This hardly satisfies feral instincts, and the average zoo’s polar-bear den is one-millionth the size of its natural habitat.

In the case of large animals like killer whales and bears, it’s just not feasible to study the most significant aspects of their lifestyle. Mating is largely controlled by park officials (Tillikum’s sperm is extracted for an artificial insemination program) and hunting is non-existent (Tillikum is fed 300 pounds of fish per day).

Park employees and visitors should think twice before they proclaim their love for animals because the widespread culture of visiting zoos and aquariums isn’t doing the animals any favors. It’s highly unlikely that animals enjoy gawking spectators for whom they are forced to perform asinine tricks.

In addition to their monotonous duties, the isolation and enclosed spaces these animals are forced to endure has a palpable effect on their mental health. A 2003 Oxford study found that animals, large ones in particular, are distressed by their confinement, and several marine experts have described the mental state of whales in aquariums as “depressed”.

Seeing as how whales possess spindle neurons, the brain cells found in primates that play a role in processing emotions and social interactions, it’s no wonder that these whales aren’t content with flipping on command.

A more humane way to learn about animals is through documentaries like Planet Earth, which gives viewers an up-close and personal look at the daily life of various animals in high-definition footage. For a more hands-on approach, whale watching is an inexpensive way to observe whales interacting within their natural habitat.

Viewing documentaries and going whale watching might not be as exciting as a day at the zoo, but people can accurately observe animals while they live largely undisturbed. Everybody wins.
 

E-mail: pkansal@indiana.edu