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West Edmonton Mall replaces dolphin with sea lions
CTV.ca Canadian Press
23rd October 2004
Just five months after wading out of controversy over keeping a dolphin in captivity, the world's largest shopping mall appears set to dive back in with the import of three sea lions.
The marine animals will be the latest attraction at West Edmonton Mall, replacing the ever-popular Howard the dolphin. The mall found a new home for Howard at a Florida marine park last May after getting flak from animal-rights groups.
The watchdog group Zoocheck Canada said Friday it's "deplorable'' that the mall has brought in new marine mammals, but the mall says they will be well looked-after.
The sea lions -- two 10-year-old females named Clara and Kelpie, and an eight-year-old male called Pablo -- arrived at the mall early Friday, said mall spokeswoman Kimberly Evans.
They were purchased from the Blair Drummond safari park, near Stirling, Scotland. Evans said the sea lions were born in captivity.
The sea lions are part of the mall's "rebranding'' strategy to bring in different entertainment, she said.
"We heard about these sea lions that were available ... We pursued getting them and we were fortunate enough to be able to bring them here,'' she said.
"We had the facility and the room here for them, we have the best staff here to take care of them, so we figured we'd be able to provide them a great home and people would really enjoy seeing them here.''
The sea lions will be given a couple of days before they are exhibited to the public, Evans said.
But Julie Woodyer of Zoocheck Canada says there's no way such animals should be kept in a noisy shopping complex.
"I'm disgusted by this recent decision. I don't think that mall has any right bringing any more wild animals into the mall.
"I think it's a deplorable environment for any wildlife in captivity,'' Woodyer said.
Sea lions are very large animals that normally live in large social groupings, the animal-welfare activist said, suggesting their new home -- the former dolphin tank -- won't be an adequate facility for them.
Evans said an average male sea lion measures more than two metres and weighs about 300 kilograms. The females are somewhat smaller and weigh about 100 kilograms.
The dolphin tank has been adapted and upgraded but it hasn't been made any larger for the sea lions.
But Evans noted that sea lions are also land animals, and Clara, Kelpie and Pablo will have the whole tank area outside the main pool to move around in and sit on rocks.
Mall officials have said they'd like to have a zoo in the shopping-entertainment complex by early 2005.
Don Ghermezian, president of Triple Five Corp., said he plans to acquire lion cubs, bear cubs, zebras, small elephants and sea lions for a mall display.
Evans said there aren't any plans at the moment to bring in any more new animals.
West Edmonton Mall, one of Alberta's main tourist attractions, has always kept animals.
The current menagerie includes a flock of flamingos, tropical fish, penguins, sea turtles and sharks. It has hosted lions, tigers and bears in the past.
But the dolphin show was particularly popular with tourists and shoppers.
Howard, especially, became a cause-celebre for animal-welfare groups.
He was the last survivor of four dolphins who lived and performed in their indoor water tank from the time they arrived in 1985.
Zoocheck and other groups urged mall officials to move Howard out of the shopping complex when his health began to fail after his mate and companion, Mavis the female dolphin, died in July of last year.
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