Mumbai: PETA urges Uddhav Thackeray to drop SeaWorld park plan

Following reports that the state government was planning to invite an expression of interest from private players to choose a location for the SeaWorld park to be developed on the lines of the SeaWorld in Orlando US the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals PETA has urged Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to not go ahead with itas the marinemammal park would be in violation of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests guidelinesThe organisation had raised a similar demand when a decade ago the CongressNCP government conceived the same project and they had also written to the then chief minister Prithviraj ChavanPETA said when the concept of a SeaWorldtype park was floated in 2013 the central government had issued a policy note stating The Ministry of Environment and Forests Government of India has decided not to allow the establishment of a dolphinarium in the country The state governments are advised to reject any such proposal for a dolphinarium that involves the import or capture of cetacean species to establish a facility for commercial entertainment private or public exhibition or interaction purposes whatsoeverIt added that the policy note was issued after the organisation and other groups provided officials with scientific data on the suffering of captive marine mammalsAquaria and marinemammal theme parks like SeaWorld sell the suffering of intelligent social beings who are denied everything thats natural and important to them as entertainment said PETA India CEO and veterinarian Dr Manilal ValliyatePETA India requests that Maharashtra steer clear of marine abusement parks and instead support tourist attractions that dont involve keeping animals in captivity he addedAccording to PETA in nature orcas and other dolphins live in large complex social groups and swim vast distances every day in the open ocean In captivity they can only swim in endless circles in tanks that are the equivalent to them of bathtubs and are denied the opportunity to engage in almost any natural behaviourTheyre forced to perform meaningless tricks and are often torn away from family members Most die far short of their natural life expectancy it saidPETA said that the SeaWorld in US is a notorious animal abuser and its practices are widely condemned More than 40 orcas have died on the companys watch many of them far short of their natural life expectancy from causes such as bacterial infections and fractured skulls and 20 orcas are still suffering at parksOther dolphins at SeaWorld are still being bred mdash forcibly and in some cases after being drugged mdash and 140 of them are crammed into just seven tanks across the companys parks the statement saidCM wants pvt investment for projectThe organisation had opposed a similar proposal in 2011 when Prithviraj Chavan was the CM It was to be set up in TondavaliVayangani village at Malvan in Sindhudurg district The CongressNCP government had earmarked 1400 acres of land for the project but the agitated villagers did not allow it to proceed The subsequent Devendra Fadnavis government scaled down the project to 300 acres of land The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation was made a nodal agency for the project which didnt move further because of several obstacles Chief Minister Thackeray who was on a tour of Sindhudurg told a review meeting on Monday that the SeaWorld project would be expedited if private investors came forward and the state would contribute its share as investment grantCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates