It is with utmost surprise and bewilderment that we discover yet another smear campaign move, this time on the part of the animal rights activist group, Anima, aiming to damage the worldwide known reputation of Loro Parque with their allegations about the level of welfare of the animals under our care, something that they by no means and in no measure are qualified to evaluate in the first place.
We would like to remind these self-proclaimed activists that Loro Parque has been acknowledged as the best zoo in the world twice in a row by TripAdvisor. No other zoo in the World has ever achieved this. On the other hand, Loro Parque complies with all the Spanish and European regulations for zoos; we are members of all the relevant zoological associations (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, European Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Iberian Association of Zoos and Aquariums, European Association for Aquatic Mammals and Alliance for Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums). We have been also audited by American Humane and have been certified with the Humane Conservation Standard, which is internationally acknowledged as an independent Animal Welfare Standard. Loro Parque is also certified with ISO14000, ISO9000, EMAS and Biosphere Parks Animal Embassy.
During the 47-year trajectory of Loro Parque, we have been visited by over 49 000 000 guests, many of whom have repeated their experience and have left their testimonials in our Guest Books which are available to all visitors and which can be seen in our regular social media posts. These are the truly independent opinions of the people who have visited us and could verify for themselves the level of care and affection that we give to all animals every day. Here are some of them:
Despite that, we are continuously targeted by the anti-zoo groups with smear campaigns, but they have never succeed in proving any of their accusations. Thus, for example, the last animal mistreatment accusation made by PETA against Loro Parque was declared unfounded by the Spanish Environmental Police after a detailed analysis of all our facilities and procedures.
We will be more than happy to confront any legitimate subject matter expert to prove the high level of welfare of all our animals, included the orcas.
About Morgan, here is the link to the chronology of her rescue, rehabilitation and integration where anyone can get familiar with her extraordinary story https://www.loroparque.com/morgan/index_en.html. She was rescued when she was found almost dead in the Wadden Sea, and if Loro Parque hadn’t had the willingness to offer her a home, she would have been euthanized.
With regard to her young calf, Ula, we have been totally transparent about the separation from Morgan, explaining to the interested public that she did not have enough milk to feed her. The veterinary team decided to temporarily separate Ula from Morgan in order to feed the calf, otherwise the young animal would already be dead, like it happens in many occasions in the wild, when the orcas are unable to provide enough food for their offspring. Thanks to the enormous effort of the veterinarians and caretakers, Ula is alive and doing very well, she has been reunited with her mother, nevertheless we are still bottle-feeding Ula as she still a calf.
As a proof of our total transparency with Ula you can find all the information in our blog:
https://www.loroparque.com/loro-parque-da-la-bienvenida-a-la-cria-de-la-orca-morgan/?lang=en
https://www.loroparque.com/morgan/?lang=en
https://www.loroparque.com/an-update-on-the-progress-of-morgans-calf/?lang=en
https://www.loroparque.com/loro-parque-contributes-to-research-on-the-echolocation-of-orcas/?lang=en
https://www.loroparque.com/certain-anti-zoo-activists-speculate-about-ulas-health/?lang=en
Furthermore, all the interested public can follow our regular publications about the progress of Ula and her mother Morgan on our social media.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=958172154383323
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=382229198993008
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=320732615229785
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=328287674486287
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=356565364948055
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2129728173749609
Going back to Anima’s ridiculous accusations, one must underline that the video used to advertise this petition was recorded 11 years ago during a veterinarian procedure (gastroscopy) that had to be performed in one of our orcas. At that time, this animal was not trained to perform this veterinarian procedure voluntarily, so that it had to be restrained to allow the veterinarians to diagnose the orca. This kind of restraining was only performed for veterinary reasons and this is why it is so important to train the animals in order to reduce the need to manipulate them. Nowadays this is not necessary as the animals have been trained to participate voluntarily in gastroscopic examinations.
Accusations like this one will not change our determination to continue working for the welfare of every single animal in this world, and for the conservation of the biodiversity in a planet threatened by the sixth extinction as has been scientifically proven. Already now with 700 million visitors in zoos worldwide it is clear that a zoo visit is a highly demanded activity which in light of the destruction of our nature and environment will become an absolute “must” in the future.
