An endangered whale shark has died in captivity after having difficulty “navigating the habitat”.
Trixie the whale shark has been a crowd favourite at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta for more than a decade.
But on Friday local time, her health declined.
“She was having difficulty navigating the habitat earlier in the day and then her health rapidly declined,” the zoo said in a statement on its Facebook page.
“Even after exhaustive veterinary and animal care efforts, she ultimately passed away.
“Trixie was one of our first whale sharks when she arrived in 2006 and she contributed enormously to our understanding of whale sharks and their care. Loss is inevitable, but that does not make it any less painful.”
Whale sharks are listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as being endangered.
A vast majority of people commenting on photos of Trixie expressed their sadness at hearing of her passing.
Some, however, questioned if she would have survived if left in the wild.
“Maybe stop putting intelligent animals that navigate hundreds of miles in the wild into captivity and leave them alone,” one person said, pointing out that whale sharks can live to as long as 100 years in the wild.
"captivity" - Google News
November 29, 2020 at 10:16AM
https://ift.tt/3mnpYwo
Death of whale shark named Trixie at US aquarium sparks debate about animals in captivity - 7NEWS.com.au
"captivity" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3b01anN
https://ift.tt/3dbExxU
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Death of whale shark named Trixie at US aquarium sparks debate about animals in captivity - 7NEWS.com.au"
Post a Comment