This version of Romeo and Juliet might have a happy ending.
A pair of aged manatees that have lived in “deteriorating conditions” at a Florida aquarium since 1956 will be moved following complaints by animal rights groups and a damning report by the USDA about conditions at the park.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) said the manatees, named Romeo and Juliet after Shakespeare’s famous lovers, will live out their remaining years in a sanctuary where their medical and social needs can be more closely attended to, according to the Guardian.
Drone footage captured last month by advocacy group UrgentSeas and posted on X gives a glimpse of Romeo, 67, who lives in grim isolation at the Miami Seaquarium.
In the heartbreaking video, the mammal is shown swimming alone in the brackish water of the aquarium’s dilapidated “Pompano Pool” which is closed to the public, where animal rights groups say he is confined “all the time.”
Aerial footage captured by animal rights group UrgentSea in November showed Romeo, a 67-year-old manatee, locked alone in a dilapidated pool in an area of the aquarium closed to the public. TikTok/@urgentseas Manatees are social creatures whose health can suffer when isolated. TikTok/@urgentseas
“Manatees are semi-social animals and suffer psychologically when not living in pairs or groups,” read the caption on the video, which has been viewed more than 3 million times.
The release of the footage is part of the group’s #FreeRomeo campaign which has been active on social media.
Former marine mammal trainer and UrgentSeas founder Phil Demers, who described Romeo’s lonely life as “Groundhog Day in hell,” was overjoyed at the news of the mammal’s impending freedom.
“It’s a humbling experience to be part of such a great and effective movement. It is every activist’s dream to inspire change. I am very proud of UrgentSeas’ work,” he said.
A scathing inspection report by the USDA in July cited several failures by the aquarium to provide its animals with proper veterinary care and adequate living facilities.
Juliet the manatee, 61, (left) swims with a manatee named Phoenix at the Miami Seaquarium in 2014. AP
In one instance, after an associate veterinarian’s employment was terminated by the Seaquarium on March 23, a veterinarian was left to care for 46 marine animals and “hundreds of birds, fish, sharks and rays housed at the facility,” the USDA wrote. in his report.
Inspectors also found the aquarium did not comply with requirements to ensure that “primarily social” animals such as manatees are housed at all times with “at least one compatible animal of the same or biologically related species.”
As a result of the report, the Miami-Dade Board of Commissioners set a deadline of December 15 for the Seaquarium to address its various violations. UrgentSeas had planned to hold a demonstration at the Seaquarium the following day.
A spokeswoman for Miami-Dade Mayor Danielle Levine Cava told the Guardian that the Commission had issued a notice of default to The Dolphin Company, parent of the Mexico-headquartered Miami Seaquarium, and that it was prepared to exercise its “options for all remedies available at law” if it fail to meet the deadline to correct the violation.
The FWS did not reveal Romeo and Juliet’s future home but told the Guardian it is looking at facilities that are part of a manatee rescue and rehabilitation partnership, a cohort of certified aquariums, zoos and marine life centers where the animals can enjoy a much better upbringing. quality of life.
“FWS takes the health and welfare of manatees in managed care seriously [and is] working with a team of experienced manatee rescue and rehabilitation specialists through the MRP to assist with manatee transport efforts from the Miami Seaquarium,” the Service said in a statement to the Guardian.
The mammals are expected to be transported to their new homes as early as next week.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
