Sci Tech
Bindi Irwin Seaworld Support: Steve Irwins Daughter Slammed For Supporting Seaworld
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Daughter of the late Steve Irwin, Bindi announced during an appearance on the top-rating US morning TV program, Good Morning America, on Thursday that she is teaming up with SeaWorld.
The controversial Blackfish documentary, which targeted SeaWorld, was not mentioned in the Irwins’ GMA appearance.
“The Irwin family has been exploiting animals for years, so it comes as no surprise that Bindi has agreed to become SeaWorld’s latest shill,” People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) senior vice president of communications Lisa Lange told AAP.
“But plastering her face on SeaWorld’s website won’t cover up the fact that orcas, dolphins, and other animals are suffering in SeaWorld’s tiny tanks after being ripped from their families.”
Orlando-based SeaWorld Entertainment Inc has been pounded by bad press, protests and boycotts by performers including Willie Nelson and The Beach Boys the past year after the release of the award-winning Blackfish, which probed the treatment of killer whales at the company’s theme parks.
“I’m so excited to be carrying on in Dad’s footsteps and making sure that everything he worked so hard for continues for the generations to come,” Bindi, speaking of her father Steve “The Crocodile Hunter” Irwin, who died in 2006 from a stingray barb, said.
“That’s why I’m thrilled to be empowering kids.”
Bindi: the tv presenter and actress has teamed up with Seaworld
The announcement set off an avalanche of angry Twitter posts from fans and Blackfish supporters, including Amanda Holliday who tweeted: “How much do you think #SeaWorld had to pay Bindi Irwin to try to fix their image?”
Another from Pat Fitzgerald read: “@BindiIrwin Have you seen #Blackfish? Please do not bring shame to your fathers name by colluding with #SeaWorld”.
The view was echoed by PETA.
“What millions have realised – through PETA’s massive campaign and the hit documentary Blackfish -is that SeaWorld is no place for anyone who truly cares about animals,” Lange said.
“Bindi’s talk-show appearances are just a flimsy last-ditch effort by an abusement (sic) park hoping to make a buck.”
SeaWorld has launched an aggressive online and media campaign against the Blackfish documentary, including placing full page ads in America’s biggest-selling newspapers titled: “Open Letter from SeaWorld’s Animal Advocates.
SeaWorld has also spent $US70 million ($A78.14 million) improving its killer-whale habitats the past three years.
SeaWorld and the filmmakers behind Blackfish have not responded to requests for AAP for comment on Bindi’s announcement.
SeaWorld, unrelated to the Queensland, Gold Coast, theme park Sea World, has parks in San Diego, Orlando and San Antonio.