Activists had been angered by Marineland’s plans to transfer the two killer whales to Japan due to Tokyo’s lax animal welfare laws
A French marine park has closed down definitively due to a 2021 law banning shows featuring marine mammals, leaving uncertain futures for the two last orcas in captivity in the country, hundreds of other animals and dozens of staff.
The closure of the park on Sunday was marked by a final show by its two orcas, Wikie and Keijo, who were received with rapturous applause by crowds who came for its last day of operations.