SAN DIEGO -- Animal welfare advocates are calling for full public access to the official cause-of-death report in the passing of one of SeaWorld's oldest and most infamous orca whales, Tilikum, who died on Friday.
Over the years, Tilikum was linked to the deaths of two trainers and one trespasser, and his life in captivity was the subject of the controversial 2013 documentary, "Blackfish". SeaWorld said he had been ailing, but Dr. Naomi Rose, an orca biologist with the Animal Welfare Institute, said Tilikum's life in a tank was doomed long ago.
"Tilikum has been dying, if you will, for quite some time - years really, when you look at it that way,” Rose said. "He's definitely broken some records in terms of longevity in captivity. And so, in one sense, it should have been totally expected, but still was a shock."
A statement from SeaWorld said, "Tilikum passed away ... surrounded by the trainers, care staff and veterinarians that provided him around-the-clock, world-class care.”
But Rose said no amount of care could make up for the animal being kept in a facility only a fraction of his natural habitat. Orcas in the wild often live to age 70; Tilikum, who lived longer than many in captivity, was only around 36.
Rose said orcas and certain other large, wide-ranging carnivores - such as polar bears and big cats - are ill-suited to captivity. She said the natural pattern for ocas is to travel over thousands of miles.
"SeaWorld's whole complex is less than .0001 of a percent the size of the natural home range,” she said. “And when you put them in that kind of space, it's harmful to them. It's harmful to them physically, and it's harmful to them psychologically."
Rose said that one of Tilikum's lasting legacies is that trainers no longer do "water work,” that is, they don’t get into the water with the orcas. But she said she would like to see a paradigm shift away from treating these complex and majestic creatures like circus acts.
"Public display of these animals, keeping them in captivity, is part of the problem, not the solution, when it comes to their conservation,” Rose said.
SeaWorld said Tilikum was being treated for a bacterial lung infection, but an official cause of death is pending.
A full statement from the Animal Welfare Institute on Tilikum's death is available here.
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After years of trying and failing, Indiana lawmakers have put bobcats in the crosshairs.
The decision forces the Indiana Department of Natural Resources to create the hunting season framework and ignited fierce debate among lawmakers, wildlife advocates and hunters regarding the necessity and ethics of targeting Indiana's only native wild cat species.
Samantha Chapman, Indiana state director for The Humane Society of the United States, argued the bobcat population is still in the process of recovering in Indiana.
"Throughout the committee process, it was very clear that the hunter and trapping lobby had a lot to do with this bill," Chapman asserted. "Folks have even mentioned wanting to eat bobcats, which to me seems absolutely preposterous."
Chapman stressed experts need scientific data before targeting the wild cats. Proponents claim they are having issues with disappearing cottontail rabbits and said the bobcat population is getting out of control, especially in southern Indiana.
Sen. Scott Baldwin, R-Noblesville, authored the bill. He said the DNR has many people with varying opinions, and they sometimes need to be nudged.
Ernie Nichols, a member of the Indiana State Trappers Association, encouraged lawmakers to eat bobcat meat.
"First off, tastes great. I don't know if you've ever had a chance to eat it but it's delicious," Nichols stated. "Second off, on the state DNR website from calendar year '22 to '23 there has been a 118% increase in confirmed bobcat sightings."
Opponents claim hunters want to take the cats for the fur or a trophy and argued wildlife belongs to all Hoosiers and should be held in public trust. The DNR has remained neutral throughout the contentious debate and is tasked with creating the new season to hunt and trap bobcats, possibly as soon as July 2025.
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A Utah wildlife expert considers wild animal poaching to be a significant problem in the Beehive State, following several incidents of game animals being killed and then left to waste.
According to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, four deer were killed in the Woodland Hills area of Utah County late last year. The heads were removed from each deer, and the carcasses were left. More recently, the division discovered a cow elk and 18 geese dead in Emery County.
Capt. Chad Bettridge, law enforcement officer for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said the hunters responsible for these killings could be charged with a felony.
"Three very different circumstances and potentially even more than that," Bettridge noted. "We are not 100% sure that all the deer in Utah County were tied together, but they were in such a location and were similar in circumstance that it does kind of feel like they were maybe done by the same people, or at least related."
Bettridge encouraged anyone with information which could be useful to contact the division by using their law enforcement app. It allows you to send text messages, photos and GPS locations of any situation you think might be illegal. You can also use their 'turn in a poacher hotline,' at 800-662-3337.
Bettridge pointed out in the past five years, the number of animals killed illegally has ranged between 1,000 and 1,400. He added Utah is a big state, and as he put it, the agency does not have "an incredible amount of officers" to cover the vast landscape. When they're fully staffed, there are about 50 officers in the field to investigate reports of animal killings.
"For example, the cow elk in Emery County, that cow elk was shot during a time that it could have been a legal season for cow elk," Bettridge recounted. "However, only a small amount of the meat was taken from the carcass and everything else was left to waste, which makes it illegal, even if you had a license to legally kill that elk."
Bettridge acknowledged the majority of hunters and fishermen are doing the right thing, but said there are bad actors out there. He added the division depends on the public to help by reaching out if they come across something potentially illegal and in need of a closer look.
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A federal court ruling that limits wolf trapping and snaring in Idaho could aid recovery of grizzly bears in the region.
U.S. Judge Candy Dale ruled that the state needs to cut back on wolf trapping and snaring because of its impact on grizzly bears, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Jeff Abrams, wildlife program associate with the Idaho Conservation League, said a bill passed in Idaho in 2021 expanded trapping and snaring of wolves and likely led to the judge's decision.
"The decision plainly concludes that there's no way to set a trap or a snare in a way that will only capture a wolf," said Abrams, "and state incentives for this activity make the problem even worse."
Under the ruling, wolf trapping season will close between March 1 and November 30 in eastern and northern Idaho.
In response to the decision, Idaho Fish and Game Director Jim Fredericks said the state has expanded wolf snaring cautiously and the agency is considering its legal options.
While grizzlies have made a comeback in parts of Idaho, Abrams said they've been absent in the central section of the state, known as the Bitterroot.
"That recovery zone does not have bears in it right now," said Abrams, "and this ruling very much impacted our ability to begin to work to restore bears in that habitat."
Abrams said he believes lawmakers have been single minded in the their approach to wolf management, expanding it too far.
"The right to trap is guaranteed in Idaho but not if it might impact or harm protected wildlife species," said Abrams. "It also risks the goodwill of a lot of Idahoans that generally support the idea of trapping."
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