Chris Packham calls 'bulls***' on Sea Life London Aquarium as executives defend controversial penguin treatment
TV presenter Chris Packham has literally called bulls*** on a British aquarium for its controversial treatment of its penguins.
Animal welfare campaigners have called for the release of 15 penguins “trapped in a basement without sunlight or fresh air” at the Sea Life London Aquarium - with former Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey daring the company’s chief executive to swap places with the birds.
The Free The Fifteen demonstration, organised by Freedom For Animals with support from Born Free and The Express newspaper, saw between 250 and 300 people attend on Sunday morning to protest against the captivity of 15 gentoo penguins at the riverside attraction in Westminster.
The aquarium, owned by Merlin Entertainments, opened its first penguin exhibit in May 2011, introducing 10 gentoo penguins from Edinburgh Zoo who “have now endured 14 years in a basement” equipped with a pool of only six to seven feet deep, according to campaigners.
Musician-turned-environmentalist Sharkey, who attended the protest, accused the company of exploiting the birds for profit - and dared the new Merlin Entertainments chief executive Fiona Eastwood to “swap places with the penguins”.
“In fact, if she’s prepared to actually spend a month down there with those penguins, I will donate £1,000 of my money to a charity of her choosing,” Sharkey said.
Merlin Entertainments is co-run by Blackstone Group, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), and Kirkbi, the investment arm of the Lego family. The British theme park giant owns a wide range of attractions across the UK, including Alton Towers, Legoland Windsor, Madame Tussauds, Thorpe Park, and Chessington World of Adventures.
A spokesperson for the Sea Life London Aquarium said in a statement on Sunday the penguins’ habitat was “designed with help and advice from specialist vets,” adding: “It provides an excellent balance of water and land for the penguins which enables them to express their normal behaviours and there is space for them to ensure they have sufficient privacy.”
But naturalist and presenter Packham, who was also at the protest, rejected the venue’s claims and called it “a blight on the reputation of London’s attractions”.
He said: “I could get some specialist architects to build you and me a house in an asbestos factory – we wouldn’t want to live in it, would we? It’s bulls***.
“Do we really want that reputation stained by a greedy company that’s keeping some birds in a basement for profit and with no conservation and/or other educational value?
“We’ve learned sufficiently enough about their behavioural, physiological and ecological needs to know that if you’re going to keep to these animals in captivity at all, you need a custom-built facility, and it’s certainly not one that’s in the bunker of a building underground, where they never see sunlight and they never get fresh air.
“It’s not acceptable, they’ve got to move them.”