Penguins at Sea Life London Aquarium (Image: Daily Express)
Campaigners have slammed an aquarium’s “disingenuous” claim that its “captive” penguins are raising awareness of another threatened species.
Sea Life London Aquarium, which keeps 15 Gentoos in a basement enclosure with no fresh air or natural light, has “justified” it by trying to help the critically endangered Africa Penguin.
Campaigners said Gentoos’ wild populations are deemed “stable” with over 750,000 adult individuals, so there is no justification in keeping them in captivity.
A spokesman for the conservation charity Born Free said: “Whilst Sea Life’s support of the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) is admirable, the same support could be achieved without the keeping of gentoo penguins in unnatural and highly inappropriate captive conditions.
“The idea that keeping an Antarctic species in an artificial diorama exhibit can be justified on the basis of educating visitors about a distantly related African species of penguin is tenuous at best, and is clearly a further attempt by the aquarium to defend the indefensible.”
Born Free, the Daily Express and Freedom for Animals have demanded the penguins at Sea Life London Aquarium (SLLA) be moved to a more suitable enclosure.
The animals are kept in an enclosure with up to seven feet of water depth in which to dive.
This is especially shocking – the campaigners point out – as gentoo penguins can dive up to 600 feet in the wild.
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Dr Andrew Kelly, director of Freedom for Animals, said: “It is disingenuous of SLLA to claim that captive Gentoo penguins in London and Birmingham are helping to raise awareness of the plight of African penguins in South Africa, and the claims on their website are clearly contrived to legitimise keeping penguins in captivity.
“African penguins are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and their decline is largely due to difficulty in finding food due to commercial overfishing by humans, and the impact of climate change.
“Sea Life has produced no evidence that keeping Gentoo penguins in captivity educates the public in a way that changes their long term support of real, in situ conservation, and linking captive penguins in the UK to the conservation of wild penguins in South Africa is tenuous to say the least.
“Nor has Sea Life confirmed what percentage of their annual turnover they use to support in situ conservation, including SANCCOB which is genuinely helping penguins in need.
“If aquariums’ and zoos’ education programmes worked, we would not be in the middle of a biodiversity crisis. Anyone who wants to help them rescue, rehabilitate and release African penguins to the wild should avoid Sea Life centres and send a donation directly to SANCCOB.
“Once again, we call on Sea Life to stop breeding penguins for exhibition and to fund an independent, fully accredited sanctuary for these penguins to live the remainder of their lives in as good an environment as possible.”
Twenty six high profile campaigners, including Chris Packham, and 23 MPs have demanded that SLLA free the 15 gentoos.
Britons are being urged to sign a refreshed petition demanding their release.
Campaigners have demanded the release of gento penguins at Sea Life London Aquarium (Image: Express)
A Sea Life spokeswoman said: “As part of its overall mission, SLLA has an opportunity and responsibility in sharing the wonders of the natural world in an accessible manner. With the opportunity to influence more than a million people who visit Sea Life London Aquarium from all around the globe each year to care for the world’s oceans and the marine life within it, we believe this is a hugely positive thing.”
“Sea Life UK is committed to supporting SANCCOB annually, through the donation of funds, and the time and resource of its penguin experts. The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria recent studbook reports continue to encourage the colonies of Gentoo penguins at Sea Life London and Birmingham to act as crucial ambassadors for threatened penguin species in the wild, helping to educate about the conservation work that needs doing around the world and highlight how we can boost populations to protect penguins’ futures.”
To sign the petition to move the penguins, visit