The fate of Wikie and Keijo, the two orcas still detained in a water park in France, is now in the hands of the Ministry of Energy Transition. The Marineland park in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes) has, in fact, officially submitted a request to export the two orcas it houses to the Kobe Suma Sea World park, in Japan. The government, which confirmed on Monday November 25 that it had received the request, has two months to respond.
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A report issued in June by the General Inspectorate of the Environment and Sustainable Development formalized the existence of a contract between Marineland and this Japanese dolphinarium to transfer the orcas there, something that animal protection associations had suspected for several months. who follow the file. “The objective, with this export request, is to comply with French legislation which prohibits cetacean shows from 2026specifies at Monde park management. We need to find a destination for the cetaceans, we are acting responsibly by anticipating the fateful date of 1is January 2026, so as not to be illegal. »
For the associations, a departure for Japan would be a snub, three years after the vote on the 2021 law to combat animal abuse, which presented itself as a major step forward for animal protection in France. For the first time, legislators recognized that life in tanks was unsuitable for the needs of large marine mammals (while enacting other measures such as the end of traveling circus shows with wild animals). “Even if the orcas survived the journey, they would die there quicklyfears Christine Grandjean, president of the association It’s enough. At Kobe Suma Sea World, orcas can perform up to six shows a day. At Marineland, it's one show a day. »
The non-governmental organization (NGO) launched a petition to urge the Minister of Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, to refuse the transfer. “It would be an indelible stain on the minister's record if exports to Japan were authorized”with en garde Mme Grandjean. “The government in principle has free rein to refuse such a shipment to this Japanese amusement park”says the NGO One Voice.
Lack of anticipation
The request to transfer the orcas comes while the outcome of an independent veterinary expertise ordered in 2023 after an action brought by One Voice is still awaited. In January, the Grasse judicial court banned any movement of the orcas pending this expertise, a judgment which Marineland appealed. After a hearing at the end of October, the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal will have to rule on December 5.
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