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SeaWorld says it will keep whale that killed trainer
TweetORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Despite calls to free or destroy the animal, SeaWorld said Thursday it will keep the killer whale that drowned its trainer but will suspend all orca shows while it decides whether to change the way handlers work with the behemoths.
Also, VIP visitors who occasionally were invited to pet the killer whales will no longer be allowed to do so.
“We’re going to make any changes we have to to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Chuck Tompkins, chief of animal training at SeaWorld parks, said a day after a 12,000-pound killer whale named Tilikum dragged a trainer into its pool and thrashed the woman to death as audience members watched in horror.
Talk-radio callers, bloggers and animal activists said Tilikum — which was involved in the deaths of two other people over the past two decades — should be released into the ocean or put to death like a dangerous dog.
Tompkins said that Tilikum would not survive in the wild because it has been captive for so long, and that destroying the animal is not an option either, because it is an important part of the breeding program at SeaWorld and a companion to the seven other whales there.
Dawn Brancheau, a 40-year-old veteran trainer who adored whales, was rubbing Tilikum from a poolside platform when the 22-foot creature grabbed the woman’s ponytail in its jaws and pulled her in. Witnesses said the whale played with Brancheau like a toy.
“He kept pushing her and poking her with his nose,” said Paula Gillespie of Delaware, who saw the attack from an underwater observation point. “It looked like she was just totally caught off guard and looked like she was struggling.”
She added: “I just felt horrible because she’s someone’s daughter, mother. I couldn’t stop crying.”
The killer-whale shows have been put on hold at SeaWorld’s three parks in Orlando, San Antonio and San Diego. Tompkins said they will not resume until trainers understand what happened to Brancheau. He also said trainers will review safety procedures and change them as needed.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Comments
This is horrible and I cannot believe Sea World is refusing to put this animal down. I will never go there again.
What good will killing this animal do? Is your lust for revenge clouding your rationality?
I thought this was an opinion forum, meaning it's my opinion and you aren't asked to agree with me.
Put the whale down so it does not kill again. This whale already killed three people!!
Release it back into the ocean. Now Sea World claims that it will not survive but we know that killer whales are very intelligent. How come we can orient other animals raised in captivity to the wild and it works. If this whale thought that the trainer's ponytail was a fish and thus grabbed it, what will it do in the wild if something resembling a fish comes near it. These animals travel in schools and if it sees another whale grab a sea lion or fish, what is it gonna do? I don't believe it will think daaaahhh, I don't understand.
Now the bottom line is that this whale makes millions for Sea World and they just may think that it is easier to train a new trainer then it is to replace the LARGEST WHALE IN CAPTIVITY!!!
redvert....It's about time that you agree with me on something. lol.
A zoo and places like Sea World are animal cruelty. If you truly love animals and want to see them live you should do so in their natural habitat. Take a vacation that includes a safari or boat trip and see animals in the wild.
From what I understand about the whales and their interaction within their own pods is unique. Removing one from the group could cause detriment to the whole pod. I completely understand Sea World's decision.
I agree that losing a "family" member is traumatic to all intelligent species but I seem to recall that Sea World in Orlando or perhaps San Diego did have a whale die from a accidental injury a few years back and the rest of the pod did survive.
Whether it be a lion or tiger pacing back and forth in a cage or a killer whale confined to a postage stamp size tank as compared to the ocean, I have a problem with that. Now look at someplace like Busch Gardens in Tampa where the animals can live in a reasonably normal habitat. That at least is close to home to these animals.
I have an idea don't try to put wild animals in a tank for entertainment. Why kill an animal that was just being a animal. You people that say kill it really need to wake up.