Complex Animals, Barren Enclosures at Loro Parque

Loro Parque recently published a video on its Facebook page in which they announce the results of one of their studies on captive orcas: Orcas are complex and have distinct personalities. In the post, they state, “Did you know that orcas have personalities? From the Loro Parque Fundación, in conjunction with Loro Parque, we have conducted personality studies on orcas, since they are very complex animals at the cognitive and social levels.” In the video, a woman who is identified as an “animal welfare coordinator” with a PhD explains, “It’s clear that orcas are very complex animals both cognitively and socially, and this is something we have also observed in a study we conducted at the Loro Parque Foundation to examine the personality structure of a cetacean for the first time.”

The animal welfare coordinator makes it sound like Loro Parque has conducted groundbreaking research that will forever alter the way the world views orcas. But we’ve known for years that orcas are highly intelligent, emotionally complex and have distinct personalities. There is nothing new going on here. Now that Loro Parque apparently also recognizes the complex and highly evolved brains of orcas, I have a couple of questions: Does this mean they will finally admit these large ocean-roaming predators don’t belong in minuscule concrete tanks far away from the oceans where their advanced cognitive abilities evolved? Will they now conclude orcas were in fact not created by nature to entertain crowds of fun-seeking tourists by beaching themselves on command and performing silly dance moves on a concrete floor in a loud show stadium?

Loro Parque admits that orcas are tremendously complex, but insists they belong in barren concrete tanks where there is no way for them to put their highly evolved abilities to any real use. Credit: Helene O’Barry/Dolphin Project

I already know the answer. It’s a big no. Orca shows are popular with tourists who visit Tenerife, and I don’t think we will ever see Loro Parque willingly give up one of its most popular attractions.

While the animal welfare coordinator goes on about how complex orcas are, the video shows the orcas at Loro Parque swimming aimlessly back and forth in a dreary show stadium. Loro Parque calls the stadium “Orca Ocean,” although absolutely nothing in it resembles the real ocean. The orcas that currently perform in daily shows at Loro Parque are captive-born male orcas Keto, Tekoa, and Adán, and once-wild female orca Morgan, presumably part of a community of orcas in Norway. They are trapped in a desolate show stadium 24/7, with nothing natural to explore, nowhere to swim to, and no real choices to make. Their minuscule confinement provides no way for them to put their impressive natural abilities to any use.

Loro Parque has a group of chimpanzees on public display, and their enclosure is equipped with trees and other greenery. It has a waterfall and something that looks like rocks. The chimpanzees have a playground-type structure made out of tree logs they can climb and play on, much like they would in nature. It’s a far cry from life in the wild, of course, but it’s a whole lot better than the barren and lifeless concrete box the orcas are trapped in.  Loro Parque offers no explanation as to why orcas and chimpanzees are treated so differently, even though they have so much in common. Credit: Mike Peel, Wikimedia license CC-BY-SA-4.0

Apparently, Loro Parque is not concerned with the animal welfare complications that arise from subjecting such powerful and cognitively complex beings to the monotonous bleakness of a small concrete stadium. And the willingness to ignore the obvious gets even more striking when the animal welfare coordinator says Loro Parque’s study suggests orcas and chimpanzees share similar personality structures. She explains, “We find that primates and cetaceans have a number of similarities, for example, in terms of cooperation, cultural transmission, including hunting techniques, and the transmissions of dialects and vocalizations, or even in the complex social structures they exhibit.”

While she discusses how similar orcas and chimpanzees are, the video shows a group of chimpanzees in their enclosure. The contrast to the orcas’ barren confinement area is staggering. The chimpanzees’ habitat is equipped with trees and other greenery. It has a waterfall and something that looks like rocks. (I can’t tell if they are real or fake, but the chimpanzees use them for both rest and play.) The chimpanzees are playing with palm tree branches, and one is using a branch to catch some kind of food. (It looks like Loro Parque has installed a termite mound in their enclosure.) They have a playground-type structure made out of tree logs they can climb and play on, much like they would in nature. It’s a far cry from life in the wild, of course, but it’s a whole lot better than the barren and lifeless concrete box the orcas are trapped in. And it looks to me like effort went into creating an enriching environment for them.

Morgan entertains the crowds during a performance at Loro Parque in Tenerife, Spain. By human design and intervention, she will spend the remainder of her life far away from her natural home, with little to do and nowhere to swim to. With everything science tells us about the astounding intelligence of orcas, it is preposterous that it is still legal to confine them under such outdated and desolate conditions. Credit: Helene O’Barry/Dolphin Project

So why does Loro Parque think it is justified to confine orcas in an empty concrete box, while the chimpanzees are given an enclosure with elements that enable them to live out some of their natural behaviors? And how can someone who has just said orcas are tremendously complex and calls herself an animal welfare coordinator be okay with it? And there is more.

The chimpanzees are not paraded on a stage with audience bleachers around it. Their behaviors are not shaped by trainers who use food rewards to make them act in certain ways. And they don’t perform repetitive tricks in front of applauding spectators while the music is playing. They are being treated with far more consideration than the orcas are. Why is that when they are similar in so many ways?

The orcas have nothing but water in these tanks. Surrounded by concrete walls to all sides, they are contained in barren boxes that offer about as much stimuli as one would find in an underground parking lot. This is where these large-brained and highly intelligent top predators will remain trapped for the remainder of their lives. Day in and day out. Loro Parque offers no explanation as to why orcas and chimpanzees are treated so differently. And the animal welfare coordinator goes on to say, “This study ultimately demonstrates again the cognitive complexity we see in species like orcas, and I think it’s also important to highlight the value of having animals under human care and in controlled conditions to conduct this type of research.”

I believe her statement contains the real reason for the personality study: It is primarily about justifying the orcas’ continued confinement. “We need to keep the orcas here to study them, and we need to keep breeding them,” seems to be the message. But what is the point of doing studies on captive orcas if those who study them won’t let the results benefit the orcas themselves? And how many more years will Loro Parque need to study orcas before they realize orcas don’t belong in a show stadium? When they continue to justify their incarceration under such tedious and outdated conditions, it doesn’t help Tekoa, Adán, Morgan, and Keto that Loro Parque recognizes how intelligent and complex they are. At some point, the animal welfare coordinator even refers to the orcas as “subjects,” as if they are mere objects whose role in life is to provide Loro Parque with easily accessible research material. Loro Parque says in its Facebook post that orcas are tremendously complex, but they continue to treat them as if they are not. For Keto, Tekoa, Morgan, and Adán, this study will change absolutely nothing. Their astounding intelligence and impressive cognitive abilities won’t be enough to save them.

Featured image: The show has ended, and Keto, who killed his trainer in 2009 out of sheer frustration, spends his time swimming in pointless circles, going nowhere. According to Loro Parque, this is an appropriate life for an orca, even though he belongs to one of the most intelligent and complex species in the animal kingdom. Credit: Helene O’Barry/Dolphin Project

Related:

Morgan’s Monotonous Existence at Loro Parque
Loro Parque: Orca Conservation or a Show of Submission?
No Loro Parque, Dolphins Don’t Thrive in Concrete Tanks