Tilikum, an orca, drowned his trainer on Wednesday, drawing much attention. Tilikum has already participated in three other human deaths, and many people are concerened about how dangerous this whale is. Tilikum was a whale that was captured from the wild in 1983. This whale was used to basically unlimited spaces, not a small tank-this might result in stress for the animal. Officials claim that high levels of stress, as well as its high hormone levels, were probably high factors in Wednesday's tragedy.
I personally think it silly that people are over-reacting to this event. Everybody knows that when you are working with a dangerous animal, there is a high risk of death or injury, especially when dealing with an orca in a confined space, such as in this tank. This risk is much higher if the animal is captured in the wild, instead of being bred in captivity. Thus, it is no surprise to me that this animal has played a role in the deaths of humans-it should have been expected. However, some people are suggesting that the animal be released into the wild, because it is so "dangerous", which is absolutely ridiculous, since an animal that has been kept in captivity for so long is unable to survive in the wild. Thus, Tilikum will remain in human captivity, and it would not surprise me if there are other "incidents" with this orca. However, people knew the risks of taking this animal from the wild, and now they have to deal with it.
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When I heard this story, I felt so bad! This tragedy in Sea World could have been prevented! I think they should get rid of this whale because it has already done this in the past. What I really can't believe is how this incident happened in front of thousands of people. It must have been horrible to see. I understand that this is an animal and it has instincts, but something should happen in effect to this disaster.
ReplyDeleteIt is very sad that some one died, but I completely agree with you that releasing this whale back into the wild would be a bad idea. Especially since it has been in captivity for so long, it would not be able to survive if put back into the wild. I personally don't think that this whale should be forced to perform again. This has been the fourth person that it has killed, there is probably a high chance that this whale is going to get very stressed out again and hurt or kill another person.
ReplyDeleteI think that this whale needs to be realeased in the wild. They fear that the whale wouldn't be able to survive after being in captivity for long but these kind of animals have instincts and I'm sure the whale would properly adjust.
ReplyDeleteIt is obvious that this whale is not happy where it is and needs to be free before it brings any more trouble. These animals are meant to be free, and it would not be fair for them to punish the animal for using its instincts because I don't think that the animal was being malicious but just wanted to play. In the wild he can play as much as he wants without killing a fifth person.
I believe that we should have seen this coming because we could just know by its name, killer whale, that this animal sooner or later would cause an accident. That specific whale should definitely be released into the wild in order to prevent another incident from happening. However, I also have a feeling that this accident was not intentional by the whale. I believe that the whale might have wanted to play with the trainer but it was obviously not aware of its ability to harm the trainer.
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