France's Minister of Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher has announced that she is opposed to the transfer of the two remaining orcas from the Marineland park to Japan due to its lack of extensive "regulations" on animal welfare.
Wikie and Keijo are the last two orcas, living in captivity at Marineland in Antibes in the south of France.
On Monday, the Minister of Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher said she was against the proposal to send the pair to Japan.
"There are parks which today are able to accommodate orcas", like "in Spain", but "in Japan, there are no such extensive regulations on animal welfare," she told TF1 broadcaster.
Located on the Côte d'Azur, Marineland has until 1 December 2026 to part with its two orcas, since a law prohibited their detention in 2021.
Wikie and her son Keijo, were both born in captivity in this park, the first in 2001 and the second in 2013.
Marineland made a request last week to transfer the pair to the Kobe park, in western Japan.
According to the managers of the site, "the park carried out several research projects to comply with the law (...) and it appeared that Kobe, which complies with the standards in force, was the best option".
Health assessment
However, animal rights groups like One Voice suggested a transfer to a sanctuary in Nova Scotia (eastern Canada), where the enclosures were bigger than in Kobe.
Marineland said that the solution was "not possible".
The minister also indicated on Monday that she was opposed to this option, suggesting that other parks respect "European regulations" such as that of Tenerife in the Spanish archipelago of the Canaries.
France approves tough new laws targeting animal cruelty, banning wild animal entertainments
One Voice had requested a court order to suspend the transfer while an assessment of the health of the whales is underway.
President of the association Muriel Arnal told French news agency AFP that she had written to the Ministry of Ecological Transition to remind it that "the state of health of the orcas does not, in our opinion, allow for their transport".
Marineland appealed the original court order, and the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal is due to render its decision on 5 December.
Last March, two of the four orcas at Marineland died, one from septicemia and the other after ingestion of a foreign object.
Standoff with Japan
Arnal told France Televisions last month that she sees a link between the fate of the orcas and that of fellow activist and whale protector Paul Watson: a standoff with Japan.
Watson, is being held in a Greenland jail on a 2012 Japanese arrest warrant that accuses him of causing damage to a whaling ship in the Antarctic in 2010 and injuring a whaler.
Fifth Greenland hearing for anti-whaling activist Watson
Greenland extended the detention last month, prompting Watson's legal team to file a request for French nationality so that he can avoid extradition to Japan.
"There is a kind of tragic resonance. Paul. Orcas. It would be a tragedy if the orcas went to Japan which kills whales without a care," Arnal said.
"We hope that the President of the Republic will grant political asylum to Paul and that the Ministry of Ecology will not let Marineland send the orcas to Japan. It's all a question of diplomatic negotiations," Arnal said.
(with AFP)
