Two dolphins from Parc Astérix, Cessol and Guama, are already in Sweden

Two dolphins from Parc Astérix, Cessol and Guama, are already in Sweden

Two dolphins from Parc Astérix, Cessol and Guama, are already in Sweden
26.01.2021
Two dolphins from Parc Astérix, Cessol and Guama, are already in Sweden
Dolphinariums

Such cynicism … When Parc Astérix reported on Sunday 24 January 2021 on the gradual transfer of the dolphins used in its dolphinarium, several of them – or even all? – had already left! Two arrived in Sweden on Saturday 23 January 2021. And not in a sanctuary.

Yesterday Norrköping Airport in Sweden published photos of a cargo plane transporting dolphins from France. Djurrättsalliansen, our Swedish partner in the Dolphinaria-Free Europe coalition, alerted us. We then found out how many there were, their ages and the reason for transferring them.

The dolphins concerned were Guama, born in the wild and captured in Cuba in 1987 when he was only five years old, and Cessol, the other male in Parc Astérix, born at Seaworld Orlando in 1984. Both are very old but they have been sent to Kolmårdens, a Swedish dolphinarium, which opened in 1969, for breeding. Where more than sixty dolphins have already died!

Amongst Guama’s offspring at Astérix are Bahia, born in 2015, and her sister Bélize, born two years later, and before them there were their big brother, Naska, born in 2010, and their half-brother, Ekinox, Femke’s son. The two young males were sold to Greece in 2016. Guama is also the father of Aïcko and Galéo, who were sent to Planète Sauvage. We are well aware of the tragedy that befell Aïcko.

That is why, when we were working in 2017 with the advisers of Ségolène Royal, then Minister of Ecology, we had asked for (and obtained!) a ban on breeding AND on exchanges of cetaceans between dolphinariums. For those who have turned captive animals into an industry, sensing the way the wind has been blowing since the announcements Barbara Pompili made at the end of September, it was unthinkable to allow these animals the opportunity to spend a few years of retirement living as dolphins should. The documents had been prepared as early as 25 November and 21 December 2020! Two months ago. That is why we are not giving up the fight against these animal parks.

Given their age, stress could easily have killed them: Guama, for whom freedom is such a distant memory, and Cessol, who will never have known freedom. We are extremely worried about Femke, who is already very fragile. Where has she been sent? Getting rid of such old dolphins by sending them away to breed shows total lack of respect.

Obviously at the moment there are no sanctuaries in Europe, but the Parc showed not the slightest willingness to go in that direction. Parc Astérix will have made a good profit from the dolphins without ever giving them anything in return or even considering it. When one thinks of the profits that the managers of the dolphinarium have made from them, they could at least have created somewhere for the dolphins to live out their lives in peace with being subject to any form of exploitation. The system continues, as does our fight.

“Jungle Park”: the face of a permanent circus

“Jungle Park”: the face of a permanent circus

“Jungle Park”: the face of a permanent circus
26.01.2021
Gard
“Jungle Park”: the face of a permanent circus
Circuses

At a time when MPs are working on a bill to ban the exploitation of animals in circuses, we are warning against the fact that trainers will be allowed to settle down. This would mean keeping animals in conditions that are as dramatic as ever. Like Medrano’s “Jungle Park”.

What does a permanent circus look like? Take a look at the “Jungle Park” where Mina and Kamala are kept, and you’ll get the idea. After years of performing on the road or on stools, these 55-year-old elephants are now vegetating on the technical base of the Medrano circus in Aimargues (30). Thanks to our successive administrative appeals, we have obtained the suspension of the opening of the establishment to the public in September 2020. This is already a step forward, and proves that the DDSCPP and OFB inspection found irregularities. However, the owner has not been condemned: he has simply received a formal notice.

Mina and Kamala still suffering

In the meantime, our complaint is still ongoing for these elephants abandoned to their sad fate. That’s why we have just filed an addition to the complaint to the prosecutor at the Nîmes judicial court. Last December, our investigators managed to bring back new images of Mina, who was separated from Kamala at the time of the shooting. Left outside in temperatures ranging from 4 to 8°C, she struggled against the cold under an open marquee and continued to display stereotyped behaviors, eloquent symptoms of her mental distress.

Expertise

Dr. Schaftenaar, a veterinary surgeon and zoologist who viewed the videos, was also concerned about her physical condition. He noted “abnormal” movements in her left knee joint: “It seems that the patella does not move smoothly in the patellar trochlea of the femur. This problem needs to be confirmed by clinical examination by a qualified veterinarian”. He also observed “rhythmic muscular contractions […] at the junction between the body and the right front leg, and on the rest of the body”. Here again, the expert recommended a clinical examination, including blood analysis and hematology, as “this condition is known to occur in kidney disease”.

Tigers confined “a la Masson”

Mina and Kamala are not the only ones kept in conditions that contravene the derisory minimum legal standards. Tigers are also penned on top of each other in a cage truck, as at Mario Masson’s. Some of them stretch their paws through the bars, others have a dull look in their eyes. There’s no provision for them to kill time. It’s illegal and unbearable! We are asking for a protective seizure so that the elephants and tigers will be seized and put in a sanctuary. And we will fight in the same way for all the animals who will remain at the mercy of circuses, whether itinerant or sedentary.