Lolita the orca dies after half a century in captivity

Great news for our ongoing campaign to end captivity and stop tour operators selling tickets to, and promoting whale and dolphin shows. Travel company Thomas Cook has announced that it is to stop the sale of tickets to attractions where any are held captive. WDC worked closely with the former owners of Thomas Cook, advising them…

Kiska, dubbed the loneliest whale in the world, has died at Marineland, a zoo and amusement park in Canada. Caught in wild Icelandic waters she spent four decades held captive. She was just three years old when she was taken from the ocean, and her family, and condemned to a life in a barren, concrete…

Narnia the orca performs in Russia © Oxana Fedorova Narnia, a wild orca taken from the sea and held at the Moskvarium facility in Moscow has died. In a statement issued by the dolphinarium, officials say she died unexpectedly, showing no prior signs of illness. Narnia was thought to be around 17 years old and…

Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat in Las Vegas is to permanently close. The facility is part of The Mirage complex and has been open for more than three decades but, following the property’s sale to Hard Rock International, the decision has been made to permanently close the garden and habitat. While it…

Loro Parque tourist attraction in Tenerife, Spain has announced the death of Kohana, a 20-year-old orca transferred to the facility from SeaWorld in the US in 2006. Kohana is the third orca who has died at the facility within 18 months after Skyla (17 years old) died in March 2021, and Ula (three years old),…