To wonder if Sea lion shows are cruel?

[fuzzyduck33]

Hi! We went to see a Sea lion show over the bank holiday weekend and dd absolutely loved it. In theory I have nothing against animals working as long as they are happy and well cared for (I'm thinking of dogs and horses primarily I suppose) and the sea lions appeared happy and to have a good relationship with their trainer. However, as I was watching it occurred to me that I can't really tell the difference between a happy and an unhappy Sea lion. How would I really know? So I wanted to ask, what's your opinion on this? Do you steer clear or think they're acceptable in well regarded places? Thanks!

My understanding is sealions are trained through rewards, not punishment and that training, like for dogs, keeps their minds active and them happy.obviously depends on how reputable the place is though.

I steer clear. Horses and dogs are domesticated to varying degrees and I still don't like the idea of them performing for our entertainment. It's cruel, even if the animals appear happy.

I don't know enough about sea lions to say whether they're cruel or not, but as a general rule I prefer to see animals doing their own thing and if not in their wild habitat, in a habitat that recreates this as closely as possible.

I avoid any animal shows.

I steer clear. The sealions' accommodation is never up to much - their territories in the wild range over miles, not a 30 foot tank.

Sea lions are not "domesticated" circus shows no longer put put wild animals through theconfined and demeaning life. Of course it's awful.

They are like dogs in many ways and daily motivated by food - they aren't tortured and made to perform like elephants but I think it is inherently cruel to keep any wild animal in captivity and prevent it living a natural life. They cannot breed, have a family, raise their family etc - they are prisoners. The tanks they are kept in are for too small, they don't get to hunt their own food and often have a poor diet. I see them as prisoners performing for scraps.

Domesticated animals like dogs, horses etc often love performing and chose to, with no reward other than praise. Shows involving well cared for domesticated animals such as the horse and dog shows at country shows are a better bet.

I agree that it would be hard to recreate a realistic living environment for a sealoin.
However, I have seen wild sealions performing tricks for scraps of fish in South Africa ( leaping up from the water to take fish from people's mouths, clapping, rolling over etc.) so they will obviously learn to do these things without duress if it means an easy meal.
They're bright animals and seem to enjoy interacting with humans in a voluntary fashion.

It isn’t the training and show that’s the main problem, they probably enjoy the stimulation and reward. It’s the living environment that is almost certainly very cruel. These highly intelligent, muscular mammals shouldn’t be confined in small tanks.
I have circus in my background and my mother remains outraged at “the animal rights people” who have led to wild animals no longer being part of British circus. She is right that the artists with animal act were devoted to their animals, and that reward was the means of training, but the on road living arrangements for big cats and elephants were indefensible. We knew a tiger act, tigers are naturally solitary, it must have been stressful.
I don’t think you can condemn past circus families who worked animal acts, we just know more now, and with that knowledge, we have to make different choices.

I've always thought they were kept in conditions they wouldn't choose so just avoid them. I actually told my parents to stop taking us to the zoo and the circus when I was about 8.

they were cross

The living environment of any animal that is kept in captivity (I'm not talking about domesticated animals) is cruel.

Dolphins, seals, orcas, all kept in small tanks that are nothing like what they would be able to do in the wild.

It's sad and the quicker people stop going to these places the faster we can get rid of them!