Born Free USA is saddened to learn about the death of Apollo the walrus from a heart attack at Marineland in Niagara Falls. Apollo was 17 years old and had spent his entire life in captivity.
Keeping wild animals in captivity is inherently cruel. They are forced to live in unnatural conditions – denied the space, companionship and proper social structures, and an environment that allows them to display their natural behaviors and instincts. Wild animals in captivity are denied, most fundamentally, their freedom.
Apollo’s death is the third walrus death at Marineland in the past two years. Walruses are social animals by nature and congregate in large numbers in the wild. Marineland’s lone remaining walrus, named Smooshi, now faces a miserable, solitary existence.
Marineland has a reputation for inadequate and poorly managed facilities. Born Free USA’s Director of Canadian and Special Programs, Barry Kent MacKay, visited Marineland in 2018 and found distressing conditions, including seals with irritated eyes due to overly chlorinated pools and herd animals outside during a heat wave without proper access to shade or water, among other troubling sights. He documented his observations in a series of blogs.
It is too late for Apollo, but life can still improve for Smooshi. Join Born Free USA in our fight to keep wildlife in the wild.