In Choshi City, Japan, there is a marine park which, after 63 years of uninterrupted activity, is about to close its doors. All the blame or, in this case, we should say all of the credit to its visitors, who have fallen dramatically over the last seven years. It has gone from 300 thousand per year to 50 thousand average of recent times. Nothing strange, you'll think, maybe the aquarium has no appeal. No, the reason for visitors' lack of interest in the marine park is another: people no longer want animals to suffer. And the park cannot guarantee the necessary interventions to improve their well-being.
Visitors are worried that the park's living attractions, such as fish and dolphins housed in the park, may be bad. They live in places that are not suitable for them and the public has noticed it, avoiding to go on a visit in order not to increase the business of a park that can no longer guarantee the welfare of the marine animals housed inside.
If the company that manages it is asked to take action to improve the living conditions of the animals, the administration says that it cannot do anything:"There is no money to make the necessary improvements and make the park earthquake-proof and to replace the tanks". Therefore, the marine park will have to close its doors.
The case could raise a debate on the rights of captive animals that could also go beyond the borders of Japan: recently, awareness of how risky it is to bring captive animals to life in habitats that are not suitable for them and in unhealthy and reduced environments has grown exponentially and you can no longer pretend anything.
Moreover, the public is becoming increasingly aware that solutions can be adopted that are able to protect the health and wellbeing of the living attractions hosted and no longer allow errors by the structures that host them.
A warning to all zoos and parks that house animals inside them: if visitors go down it is not because interest in the animal world has decreased, but because there is increased awareness that they are living beings and as such have their sacrosanct rights!