Word: seaworld
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Captive animals have acted violently before. In 2006 an orca (a.k.a. killer whale) at SeaWorld in San Diego attacked its trainer, who survived. That summer an elephant killed its handler at the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. In 2004 a gorilla at the Dallas Zoo went on a rampage, injuring four people. A white tiger critically hurt illusionist Roy Horn, half of the performing duo Siegfried & Roy, at the Mirage Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas in 2003. More recently, in February 2007, a jaguar at the Denver Zoo killed a keeper. Despite these, among other dramatic attacks, some people wonder...
Among the seven orcas who play Shamu in the famous killer-whale extravaganza at San Diego's SeaWorld, Kasatka is not the one to mess with - whether you're human or cetacean. At a mere 5,000 lb., she isn't the largest whale in the pod (the heaviest is 9,500 lb.), nor, at 30, is she the most senior. But she is what's called the dominant female. And in the matriarchal killer-whale society, that means she's the boss. On Wednesday, she decided to remind her trainer of that...
...There is no respite for Kasatka, however. She was back performing at SeaWorld on Thursday afternoon. The marine park does not believe in punishment and will not deprive her of food nor inflict anything corporal. Mike Scarpuzzi, vice president of zoological operations for SeaWorld California, says the facility's tradition has always been the use of positive reinforcement: "We focus on what we like them to do." Indeed, he says, when Peters was dragged down, the trainer sought to calm Kasatka rather than do anything that would agitate her further. He rubbed her comfortingly in order to extricate himself, even...
...used to swim with Kasatka," says John Hargrove, formerly a senior trainer of killer whales at SeaWorld California. "She's an amazing animal. This incident doesn't make her a bad whale. People need to understand that animals can get upset or frustrated just like people and just like your cat or dog. But when it's a 6,000- or 8,000-lb. killer whale, the stakes are much greater." Hargrove has been dragged down by captive orcas himself while employed as a supervisor at a French marine facility that is unaffiliated with SeaWorld. "Those killer whales never...
...whale of a spectacle. A 300-lb. baby killer whale swam proudly with its brother and 5,000-lb. mom for the first time, after a SURPRISE BIRTH at San Diego's SeaWorld. The baby was born in front of 300 park employees. As the mother went into labor, a video team rushed to the scene and projected the birth live onto ShamuVision, a giant video screen. Scientific tests will soon determine the baby's sex and father...