In recent months, Marineland has considered transferring its last two orcas to a Japanese park, to the great dismay of animal rights activists.
Whale shows, cetacean! The Marineland water park in Antibes, in the south-east of France, which presents itself as the first marine zoo in Europe, announced on Wednesday “its plan to permanently close as of January 5, 2025”, citing the 2021 law which prohibits cetacean shows.
At the heart of the controversy
Established on the Côte d'Azur since 1970, Marineland has sparked controversy in recent months by considering thee transfer of its last two orcas to a Japanese parkto the great dismay of animal defenders and the French Minister of Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher, who opposed it at the end of November.
The project to close the park, which employs 103 employeeswas announced in the Social and Economic Committee on Wednesday morning, said the park management.
“While 90% of visitors choose to come to Marineland to admire the representations of orcas and dolphinsthe law of November 30, 2021, prohibiting cetacean shows, requires Marineland to consider this closure”, explains the press release, which also highlights a continued drop in attendance, increased in ten years from 1.2 million to 425,000 visitors per year.
Rich in some 4,000 animals of 150 different species (orcas, dolphins, sea lions, turtles and numerous fish and corals), Marineland sets itself as “priority objectives” to “relocate all of its animals to the best existing structures to date”, and to “negotiate in the coming weeks with the social partners the social consequences of this closure project”.
France
