Animal advocacy groups insist the time for waiting is over, with TideBreakers warning that action must be taken quickly.
Even though French ecology minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher said back in February she was looking for a European sanctuary, no concrete site has been found.
The temporary transfer to Loro Parque, which she had framed as a stopgap, has now been scrapped—suggesting a lack of viable infrastructure for chronic illness management and transitional aquatic healthcare.
“I was shocked,” Lori Marino told BBC News about the Spanish panel’s decision to block the move. “We thought it was a fait accompli. We assumed that was where the orcas were going, it looked like a done deal.”
So far, the French ministry has not responded to the WSP’s renewed offer. At the time of writing, Pannier-Runacher has not issued any updates.
