At Loro Park, Ula goes from bad to worse… and it’s the dolphinarium that says so

Loro Park, whose tragic death of Alexis Martinez and documentary Blackfish served to establish its sad worldwide recognition, has already dismissed the sustained concerns for little Ula. Of course, these warnings came from experts who were not in favour of the captivity of cetaceans. The park now prides itself on making ‘the best international specialists’ available to the sick. How cynical this is, when we know how much the news of the poor health of an imprisoned animal is never a good sign in this industry. Just this year, we remember the bitter taste left by the Parc Astérix regarding Femke… and saw what followed.

The mother and daughter are separated. If it was free, an orca of this age would never leave its mother. The park has therefore isolated Ula to fend for herself, which can only be a source of additional stress. And as we know, that proved to be harmful to the immune system of these beings which are so sensitive. Let’s hope that she doesn’t end up like Aïcko, the young dolphin which lost weight day by day at Planète Sauvage and which, force fed with whole fish, ended up drowning at just six years old, its larynx dislocated during one of its ‘forced feeding’ sessions… But he also wasn’t well according to the institution and as usual, we were the chief extremists and alarmists…

Translated from the French by Sophie Martin