Andbillionaire philanthropist supports a $20 million plan to free the orca Lolita, also known as Tokitae, from its small enclosure at the Miami Seaquarium.
The plan would consist of putting the 2,000 kilo orca on a plane, crossing the United States and releasing it in a bay near Seattle, according to a media report.Business Insider.
"She's healthy, I have the money, let's move her," he declared last monthJim Irsay, CEO of the Indianapolis Colts.
"Friends of Toki", the activist group leading the transfer with financial backing from Irsay, stated that the animal could be transferred within 18 to 24 months.
The project would consist of loading the six-meter-long orca in a harness and enclosing it in a glass tank at the Miami Seaquarium.
That tank would be loaded onto a truck to the Miami airport, where it would be transferred to a cargo plane such as a C-130 Hercules, then the orca would be taken with its caretakers across the US on a 2,700-mile journey to the Seattle airport, and then take a bus ride to the Salish Sea.
The report claims that more than $500,000 had already been spent on Tokitae's "life support systems" for the trip, including filters for his pool water.
Lolita, who is not strong enough to swim long distances or hunt on her own, would be moved to a 15-acre netting area near the San Juan Islands.
Lolita, He has been performing and in captivity for half a century. She was captured in Penn Cove, Washington, when she was four years old.
He has been living in the world's smallest orca tank, which measures 80 feet by 35 feet. She is the second oldest orca living in captivity.
According to recent reports, his health was rapidly declining. Under pressure from activists, especially the Lummi Nation, an indigenous group that considers her a member of the family and calls her Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut, the Miami Seaquarium agreed to stop live shows of the orca last year. .
What do you think?
COMMENTFiled in: