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I tried wading into those comments to explain that use of jesses is basic raptor husbandry and have been used for centuries in falconry but no luck

I got recommended a reel of one of SeaWorld’s rescued raptors (wearing jesses) meeting Malia at Underwater Viewing. Needless to say, the comments did not disappoint.

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Wait, what’s the deal with seashepard? I grew up w a family that supported them and literally bought their merch and stuff

I was the same way! I thought they were so cool after watching Whale Wars. But unfortuantely, despite agreeing with their mission to end commercial whaling, I think their dangerous methods (not to mention their extreme anti-zoo and anti-Indigenous rhetoric) ultimately cause a lot more harm than good. Assaulting and harrassing whalers and sealers, many of whom rely on hunting to feed their families, isn't going to inspire any change. I've been told by folks that have had interactions with Sea Shepherd members that they have a reputation for alienating the communities they enter and being rude and aggressive to both locals and other anti-whaling organizations.

Captain Paul Watson founded Sea Shepherd in 1977 after leaving Greenpeace for disapproving of his "direct action" approaches. In 1986, Watson lead an attack on unoccupied whaling vessels in Iceland that got his group branded as terrorists. The act ultimately had a counterintuative effect, "turn[ing] Icelandic public opinion against the cause of saving whales" (x). In 2013, they were even labeled as "pirates" by a U.S. court for their aggressive actions toward occupied Japanese whaling ships: "When you ram ships; hurl containers of acid; drag metal-reinforced ropes in the water to damage propellers and rudders; launch smoke bombs and flares with hooks; and point high-powered lasers at other ships, you are, without a doubt, a pirate, no matter how high-minded you believe your purpose to be" (x). Sea Shepherd actually removed Watson in 2022 in an attempt to separate itself from his more radical tactics (and outstanding arrest warrants) and go legitmate. PETA dencounced this as a betrayal to the animal rights movement.

Watson started his own organization (yet again), and Sea Shepherd is now lead by real estate mogul Pritam Singh. But I still hesitate to support them. In their bid to gain custody of Wikie and Keijo, they make several alarming statements, claiming that Nova Scotia is too cold for them since all they know is warm Mediterranean water (neglecting the fact that their habitat is chilled, something that can't be done in a pen) and that relocating to a sea pen in France will somehow be less stressful than moving to another pool. Wikie and Keijo were both born in the Marineland tanks. Even if we believe that a pen will be more beneficial to their welfare in the long run, it's downright foolish to claim that a pen is the "least stressful option." No one on their team has remotely any experience in captive cetacean husbandry, so they plan to continue employing Marineland trainers. Maybe don't accuse a group of animal abuse and then ask them to come work for you?

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the smallest artist i listen to? probably the bird outside my window

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So... it seems I accidentally deleted an ask rather than answering it. To whoever asked "is it okay to visit SeaWorld? Does the money go to giving the orcas good care?"... here is your answer!

The SeaWorld parks, as well as Busch Gardens, Discovery Cove, and a few others, are operated by the recently renamed United Parks and Entertainment, a for-profit theme park company. Like any other corporation, their first goal is to remain profitable. Obviously, a large portion of that goes to corporate leadership and shareholders. But that's far from unique to United, or theme parks in general. It's a byproduct of the greedy world we live in. If you're willing to buy a ticket to Disney or Six Flags, then buying a ticket to a SeaWorld or Busch Gardens is no more immoral.

According to the AZA, approximately 46% of their members are for-profit. And while AZA zoos certainly vary in quality (anywhere from "acceptable" to "exceptional" in my opinion), for-profit status does not cheapen or detract from the work they do. In fact, for-profit institutions often have more financial freedom for animal care and conservation efforts than their non-profit counterparts. Non-profit zoos and aquariums are wonderful places, but believe me when I say there's a startling amount of politics in every aspect of their management. Non-profit status does not automatically make a zoo better, and for-profit status does not automatically make a zoo worse.

Now... do SeaWorld ticket sales go toward giving their orcas (and other animals) good care? Yes.

While it's certainly simplistic for parks to claim, as they do, "just by buying a ticket today you're helping save animals in the wild!"... it's not exactly a lie. Being for-profit, SeaWorld doesn't ask for donations to fund park operations or outreach endeavours. That revenue is generated by selling tickets, merchandise, food, etc. The same goes for their wildlife rescue and rehab program, Rising Tide conservation program, Coral Rescue Center, and the SeaWorld-Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, as well as partner organizations like OCEARCH and the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute.

Take ticket sales away, and they can't care for their animals, or continue to fund conservation projects. While I don't know the whole story of what exactly is going on with Marineland Antibes, it appears that the park is in a dire financial situation due to plummeting attendance, to the point that they can no longer maintain their killer whale habitat and are trying to offload their animals onto an Asian aquarium or, potentially, an as-of-yet non-existent third party sea pen. While certainly well-meaning, years of boycotts against Marineland ultimately put their animals in a position where they are not being properly cared for. And it would be horrifying if the same thing happened to SeaWorld. I don't think many people, in their fervor to punish the parks for their perceived misdeeds and save the animals, thought about what the reality of driving a zoological facility into financial ruin would look like.

Don't get me wrong, SeaWorld's shift toward promoting itself as a thrill park that also does conservation rather than a marine facility that happens to have roller coasters annoys me. I would have rather they built a separate, neighboring park for the rides, or at least integrated them into the existing park less obtrusively (Disney's Animal Kingdom, for example, seemlessly integrates the theme park and zoo elements, although they have the benefit of the incredibly talented Imagineering team behind them). But as tiresome as the constant roller coaster announcements are, they are what kept the company afloat financially in the years immediately following Blackfish, drawing in a crowd that previously had no interest in the parks, and for that I'm grateful. Thankfully, SeaWorld is in a better spot nowadays. But the only way to convince them that their animals, not their roller coasters, are what people want to see... is to visit and see the animals.

In short, yes, part of your SeaWorld ticket funds care for their orcas and their many admirable projects. Now if only more of it went to giving their staff better salaries.

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So you know how there’s a whole show called Alone that’s about putting out people into the wilderness who are trained in basic survival skills (starting a fire, catching fish, building a shelter ect)?

Yet, despite those skills, they tap out when they see predators, or can’t get enough food or just can’t stand being by themselves?

Because, at the end of the day, even with the skills to survive, they still want to go back to their families and their comforts and safety and not have to spend so much time and energy finding food and surviving.

Yet, somehow we’re unable to apply this same understanding and empathy to social animals in human care that people want to release.

Or animals like Hvaldimir the beluga who is deprived of interaction with his own kind, constantly put at risk by him trying to meet his social needs and has gone from getting all his needs meet (presumably) to being forced to fend for himself for the sake of it being Natural for him to do.

Or what people want to do with whales like Corky - just ripping her away from her established family to put her in a sea pen and try to make her integrate into a pod of whales that she wouldn’t even know.

Living in the wild is not easy. Even with our big human brains we still struggle to live out there after living in “captivity.” (I could go into a whole spiel about why I think humans live in captivity under capitalism but that’s a whole other thing).

This push of naturalism fallacy and that animals that are living in human care need to be Wild is not based in any sort of science. We have no evidence that this is what those animals even want…

Anyway

Just some thoughts.

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Aww Upsy is just out here trying her best ❤️

Enrichment for Upsy?

She would love to catch a chicken but just doesn’t have the coordination for it.

Meanwhile the chickens know just when to move out of the way of this strange little prancing dog and are relatively unconcerned.

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Obsessed with this ridiculous little Creature

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If you hold your hand out like this she will lean into it and go to sleep

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took a depression nap and all i remember from my nap dreams is a nonsensical t-shirt design that left me feeling dazed and confused after i woke up.

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it’s kinda sad that the cassowary gets sensationalised as “scary knife murder bird”

like don’t get me wrong - they absolutely can do serious harm and/or kill, but that’s if they’re startled/during mating season/caring for chicks, which is standard for most animals that are bigger than us/sporting some kind of natural weaponry

cassowary are super cool birds outside of that

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Deconstructing the "Peggy and Molly Friendship" Narrative

Molly the Australian Magpie had been “reunited” with Peggy and the family that stole him as a fledgling and raised him without any wildlife carer license or experience.

Thanks to the Queensland Premier wanting to score some extra points in an election year, he “made it happen.” And legitimised the collective delusion of the public that genuinely thinks that this was a completely okay and reasonable situation. And believed the notion that Molly, a territorial social species of bird that had compromised development and was taken out of his home range, could simply "fly away".

So I went through their Instagram to see how this madness unfolded. It clearly began as a “Peggy” instagram before the stolen fledgling joined in.

These people are so adamant that there were no parents around but I don’t believe it for a second. Molly was a juvenile when he was taken - you always see fledglings around his size and age on the ground foraging for food. Mum and dad are not always around but they are never far away and are critical to a young magpie's developmental period.

They claim that Molly was sick. Yet they never make any mention of taking him to the vet. Molly makes distinctive fledgling feeding calls, the sounds he would have used to beg for food from his parents. It's tragic to see this after seeing how magpies raise their fledglings in my own backyard.

One of their first posts is feeding him what looks to be mealworms next to their pet dog. Aussie Magpie Fledglings at this age are learning everything about how to survive from their parents. They fed Molly WITH their dog. What does that teach? That dogs are not only safe but also a potential source of food/reinforcement.

As Peggy’s Instagram becomes Peggy and Molly’s Instagram, this happens:

Molly gets attacked by other birds. Because guess what? This is a territorial bird who has been removed from his original territory and away from the protection and guidance of his parents.

So, because these people have no idea what they’re doing, they’re Shocked that this would happen and that the wild bird they’re unwittingly conditioning into their pet can’t defend himself.

But yeah I’m sure teaching Molly tug of war with a dog is exactly the survival skills he needs as a wild bird!!!!!!

(I’m losing my goddamn mind)

Another “release attempt” fails because apparently we did a whoopsie and let him fly out in a storm??? Yet again, this poor bird is having traumatic experiences in the wild that he was not prepared for and is, unsurprisingly, seeking humans - which he has now associated heavily with food and safety.

Meanwhile, as they’re “raising” Molly, this insanity happens:

Yeah because that’s why your staffy is spontaneously lactating. She wants to mother a bird. It couldn’t possibly be that she’s had a bird pecking at her nipples and stimulating them or that she might have a serious medical issue. Interestingly, they do take Peggy to the vet. A luxury that doesn’t seem to be afforded to Molly who was also apparently sick (even though he seems to be pretty bright, alert and feeding in all the videos of when he was “rescued”)

Anyway the saga continues with the clear intention of making content now - the socialisation and habituation continues during Molly’s most critical juvenile years. They talk about how Peggy is helping Molly learn how to find food as if they're still intended for him to be a wild bird. But it's clear this bird isn't going anywhere.

At this time, Molly would be learning how to find food, how to socialise with other magpies and he’d eventually be joining a juvenile or bachelor flock where he’d continue to develop his social skills as a social and intelligent bird, wrestling and playing with his flock mates.

But no, he’s learning to mimic barks and is harassing the hell out of this poor staffy. The family just lets it all happen without any sort of support or advocacy for Peggy.

Haha isn't zoonotic disease vectors and a confused bird with no idea of how to interact appropriately with a dog just hilarious? It’s funny because of the silly caption they made, right?

As their "relationship" progresses, Peggy shows more discomfort.

This dog shows multiple stress behaviours. She is not friends with this bird she is TOLERATING this bird as he pecks at her face. She's rarely relaxed in these "play" interactions. She licks her lips, turns her head, yawns and even bares her teeth. But if it has a cute soundtrack behind it, I guess that means they’re having fun, right?

Even the interactions where Peggy's isn't stressed are still uncomfortable to watch. Molly shows immense frustration and confusion, following and wanting to be involved but being ignored or tolerated.

Molly should be with wild birds, playing how they play and not being merely tolerated:

Molly had a chance to be homed with a qualified wildlife rehabber or even get the chance to get to live with other Australian Magpies. But because people fell for the story and the media regurgitated it without questioning it for a second - he'll never get that chance again.

Molly was failed by the Queensland government for not being seized immediately. There were numerous complaints as soon as their story started to become viral that this was sending a bad message to the public and that this bird was not being given the care he needed.

It's too late, now. Molly will live in a confused limbo, not knowing what he's supposed to be and will never get to live with his own species.

And all the people that sent death threats to wildlife carers (who were trying to fix the damage caused) will pat themselves on the back about what a good job they did.

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She just a lil baby 🥹❤️

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cutest littlest whippet

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how many times are we going to rediscover that we need functional ecosystems

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Wizard worm just emerged from a wizarding hole! Lucky you!!!✨🪱🪄🍀