Rethinking Animal Entertainment

I remember going to Florida with my two children ages 6 and 8, the perfect ages for visiting the Orlando theme parks. My kids, (much like me) were more enthralled with the marine life at Sea World than they were with all the rides and souvenir shops at Disney and EPCOT. They loved touching the sting rays, seeing the aquarium tanks, and enjoyed the show with the sea lions, dolphins, and at the time, Shamu the whale. As I recall, while all the smaller marine mammals seemed to follow their cues from the trainers with enthusiasm, the whale made me very nervous as he (or she) missed their cue several times and seemed much too big for the small pool of water where he lived. Somehow that part of the show and exhibit left me wondering what kind of training is needed to "tame" such a large creature who has a pretty advanced intelligence and whose size alone should demand a certain respect for distance from humans. It was the only attraction that felt wrong.

Fast forward to yesterday, when one of the Sea World "killer" attractions actually lived up to the reputation and fatally wounded an employee. While I am so sorry for the trainer and her family, I can't help but think that this is a tragedy that should not have happened. It's no secret that there have been many incidents and accidents at the park involving the Killer Whales, including three previous deaths. The latest death was different in that there were human spectators watching the horror unfold. Can you imagine the trauma of seeing that spectacle through the eyes of a child? I cannot. I think it is high time we rethink the hows and whys of using dangerous animals for entertainment. It doesn't seem fair to the animals who are following their natural instincts and it certainly doesn't seem fair to the children who are barraged with enough scary things in their lives. If people want to see Orcas, or Polar Bears, or Rhinos... there are plenty of nature shows whose skilled photographers can capture the natural antics of these beautiful but dangerous creatures. I don't think they belong in zoos and I certainly don't think they should be involved in the performing arts.