As the century’s pass by we learn more and more about the world we live in and what is beneficial and what is not. As the years have gone by we’ve learned more and more about what happens to animals while they are in captivity. Animal’s rights activist have grown in number and have refined their arguments to better educate the public on the general mistreatment on animals while they are in captivity. 

The last few years have greatly helped the cause of proving that animals do not belong in captivity, but in the wild. There are many cases of which this point is proven but there are two key examples that were portrayed in the media that grabbed the public’s attention. These examples include the incident at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens involving the shooting of the gorilla Harambe and the second is the scandal with SeaWorld that led to the end of orca shows. While there are many more examples out there these two examples are the ones that the media has repeatedly shown us and give us the best view of what the public sees versus what is actually happening. 

The first example was the shooting of the gorilla Harambe at the Cincinnati Zoo. There were many news articles about the incident and there was also a video of the aftermath. A woman was visiting the Cincinnati Zoo with 4 children was distraught when she realized her three year old child had fallen into the enclosure with the four hundred fifty pound silverback gorilla. Witnesses reported that before the child had fallen into the enclosure they had heard the child tell his mother that he “wanted to go into the moat” (Park and Yan). The mother had turned her back for a few moments to tend to the other three children that she was with, when her son climbed up and fell into the enclosure. 

Along with the news articles on social media that spread like wildfire the most debated piece of evidence was a video a little over two and a half minutes long. The video started after the child had already fallen into the enclosure and shows Harambe sitting in the corner. The video proceeds to show Harambe quickly moving towards the child and dragging him through the water. Harambe stops a few times and pulls the child closer to him just too then continue running through the water with the child again. The video cuts out after a few minutes right before zoo employees decide to execute the silver back gorilla (BBC News). 

The public was distraught over the death of the seventeen year old gorilla. Many said that they thought that the zoo staff should have used darts to subdue the gorilla rather than kill him. While the child was unharmed and returned to his mother safely, many people also wanted to see the mother of the child face charges as they believed it was her fault for not watching the three year old child. After a house visit and further investigation the state decided not to press any charges against the mother.

As for the zoo they experienced extreme backlash for the killing of the silver back. The zoo said that looking back on the situation they would have done it the same way as they had the first time. They said that those who said the child was in no harm, as it appeared in the video, knew nothing about silver back gorillas. They have six times the strength of a fully grown male and could have inflicted more damage to the child then what was done. Due to the noise and everyone feeding into the chaos that was happening Harambe was startled. The gorilla was afraid and behaving erratically, that is why the zoo felt that sedating the animal would take too long and put the child in even more danger. The zoo fully stood behind their decision and their employees and while they were sad to see the animal go they were happy the child was safe. 

Animal rights activist pointed out that had the gorilla not been in an enclosure in the first place none of this would have happened. Many were enraged at the fact that the zoo valued the life of the human child above that of an animal that they had promised to protect by bring it to their zoo. Why should animals be forced to live in captivity if their safety is not even the top priority? However, the case of Harambe is very different from most in that this incident was very isolated and is not a common concern among most zoos, aquariums, or other facilities that house exotic animals. 

While the incident with Harambe was an isolated case there are other examples that have recently occurred that are broader in their argument against animal captivity. In recent years SeaWorld has under gone extreme scrutiny regarding their treatment of orca whales specifically. In 2013 at Sun Dance Film Festival a documentary was made about SeaWorld titled Blackfish. The documentary was created by, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, a mother who herself enjoyed going to SeaWorld with her children. It wasn’t until 2010 when her interest first became peeked when she heard the news that one of SeaWorld’s best trainers, Dawn Brancheau, was killed by a killer whale name Tilikum. She immediately wanted more information on the subject and with little investigating found that Tilikum had killed two people before the incident in 2010 (Timoner). 

Tilikum was captured when he was two years old and has been in captivity ever since. At 2 years old he was already 11.5 feet long and he would grow to be the largest orca in captivity at around 12,300 pounds and 22 feet long (Seaworld of Hurt). Tilikum’s first kill was in early 1991 at Sealand of the Pacific in Canada. His trainer Keltie Byrne fell into the pool that housed not only Tilikum but also two female orcas. Tilikum dragged her to the bottom of the tank and she drowned. After this Sealand closed and needing to get rid of their animals looked to sell Tilikum. SeaWorld is known for its breeding program for orcas and knew that Tilikum being the largest orca in captivity would create the best offspring yet. 

In 1999 Tilikum stuck again when he killed a man named Daniel Dukes. While there is controversy over what happened as there was never any footage to surface, the facts are that the 27 year old man was somehow able to sneak or stay in the park after closing time. He was found in only his underwear some believing he was just having some fun and wanted to go skinny dipping. However, it still remains unclear whether he jumped, fell, or was pulled into Tilikum’s sleep tank. In the morning when the staff arrived they found Tilikum with the mangled body of Daniel Dukes on his back parading him around the pool.  

The third Tilikum killing is perhaps the most famous and is the one that peeked Ms. Cowperthwaite’s interest. During the dinner with Shamu show the trainer was on the platform having “quite time” with the animal. In a video we see Tilikum grab her arm and drag her into the pool. He then pulled her down to the bottom of the pool and continued to thrash about. It took the staff over two hours to be able to retrieve the body from Tilikum. After this incident with Dawn the park president said that “they had never had an incident at the park like this before”. However, with the ease it took to uncover the truth on that lie Gabriela Cowperthwaite wondered what else could SeaWorld be lying about? 

Upon further investigation she found that SeaWorld was not as honest as the public would believe. Of course she is quick to make sure that the public knows that it is not the fault of the employees of SeaWorld. In regards to the trainers they are the people who love and care for the animals and are in the most danger. Gabriela goes on to say that “they aren’t told the extent of the danger” (Timoner). We of course know that killer whales can be dangerous as their name would suggest. The trainers are aware of this danger and most dangers of their job however, in the case of Tilikum they were misled. According to Gabriela the trainers had been told that if they fell into the tank with Tilikum that the outcome would not be favorable but they were never warned that even lying next to the pool he could come up and grab you which is what happened in the case of Dawn Brancheau. The entire staff though including the trainers and tour guides have also been given incorrect information. 

Everyone knows that for those types of jobs you have to memorize all of the facts that are given to you so that you can give the customers an informative answer. No one thought to look deeper into the facts that SeaWorld had given them because why would an employee ever think that SeaWorld would give them false information to say. That is of course the case with the documentary Blackfish. Gabriela records multiple SeaWorld staff saying that the lifespan of an orca in the wild if 25 to 35 years old and that their lifespan is about the same if not greater in captivity because they receive proper veterinarian care that they would not receive in the wild. However, Gabriela found the research that started in the 1980’s that proved wild orcas had a lifespan relatively close to that of a humans. Another general fact that they lied about was the collapsed dorsal fin. The staff are all told to say that a collapsed dorsal fin is a part of aging that is found in roughly 25% of killer whales in the wild. The truth however, is that in the wild less than 1% of killer whales are found to have a collapsed dorsal fin. In captivity 100% of male orcas experience collapsed dorsal fins. 

Blackfish goes on to continue talking about the different ways that killer whales are harmed physically or mentally while in captivity. During the documentary she interviewed a man name John Crowe who in his youth for a summer job helped to capture orcas. In his life he says that it is his biggest regret. The moment that he realized what he was doing was wrong was when he was helping to separate a baby orca from his mother. When capturing the orcas they were told to try and get the younger calves. This was because the shipping costs would be less expensive since they were significantly lighter than grown orcas. The pods however had had its children taken before and knew the way to protect their young was to split up. While the orcas without young would swim one way leading the speed boats to the right, the mothers and children would swim further down to the left to get away. Along with speed boats however, they also had planes that would scout from the sky. When the mothers and their children would come up for air they would alert the speed boats where the younger orcas really were. 

The pod or orcas would be surrounded with a net and the younger orcas would be herded for capture. This was when John Crowe realized the affect he was having on these animals. While herding a young orca he and the rest of his crew mates were surprised to see that the rest of the young whales pod had stayed when they were now free to swim away. They watched as the pod would call out to the calf and the calf would call back to them. The divers realized that they were watching a family say goodbye to one of its children. 

When orcas are put into pens in captivity people will say that that is their “pod” but it is not. They may not get along, they are simply the orcas that that facility has at that time. In the story of Tilikum that is said to be part of the reason that he grew so violent. Captured at two in Iceland and taken to Sealand of the Pacific he was put with two female orcas Haida and Nootka, these are the same two that later would take part in Tilikum’s first kill. The three orcas would perform together every day and be feed or not feed together. Tilikum had trouble learning the tricks and when he messed up all three were deprived of the food they got at the end of the trick. Because the female orcas were larger than Tilikum they would rake him with their teeth when he messed up because they were also being deprived of food. 

At Sealand the trainers always said they preferred Tilikum over the two female orcas. He was always friendly and they truly hated to put him in their 20 by 30 foot pen each night when they knew the females would hurt him. Everyone was shocked at the death of Keltie Byrne and that Tilikum was the instigator. Sealand closed and Tilikum was sent to SeaWorld in 1992. The trainers at SeaWorld had been told that Keltie’s death was caused mainly by the two female orcas and Tilikum had nothing to do with it. They noticed the management’s hesitation to let them be near Tilikum and knew that there was a piece of the story that they were in fact missing. 

This animal like many others in captivity didn’t bond well its new family and as a result was physically harmed by them. This lead to psychological problems and some said was the cause of all of his violence. It was found that orcas brains have an extended part that humans do not that involve emotion. It proved that they are very emotional creatures and Tilikums early years at Sealand could definitely have affected him.

While things like this happen all over in zoos, aquariums, and sanctuaries, they often go unnoticed as this SeaWorld scandal would have if not for the documentary. We live in an evolving society where animal rights activist have become a large part of our community. While there was out cry to end the captivity or orcas before this documentary since it has grown tremendously. SeaWorld has faced such backlash that they have decided to not only end their orca shows but also their breeding program. The orcas that are in captivity now will be the last at SeaWorld. San Diego was already facing a lot of outcry to end the shows and their orca shows will conclude in 2017 while the other two parks in Antonio and Orlando will conclude their shows in 2019 (Bomey).

Tilikum and Harambe are extremely specific examples of the abuse and cruelty that animals can suffer while in captivity. By no means though are there not many different variations of these examples. Animal captivity needs more regulation and planning if it is to continue. It can be a very useful tool for the public to learn about wild animals that they otherwise would have no interaction with. It’s important for us to lean about animals but not at the expense of the health and safety of the animals. We as a society tend to value human life above that of an animal but we cannot continue to think this way if we are to continue holding them captive and making them suffer.
