Despite a failed two-year effort to acquire a second orca for its Six Flags Marine World park in Vallejo, California, Six Flags Theme Parks, Inc., remains determined to buy and transport a teenaged wild-born male named Kshamenk (pronounced "shah-menk"), currently being held by the Mundo Marino ("Marine World") park in Argentina.
Mundo Marino's acquisition of Kshamenk 12 years ago has generated intense controversy. When the orca allegedly stranded in 1992, Mundo Marino "rescued" him and then kept him for public display when its staff determined he could not be released. Evidence and eyewitness testimony strongly suggest, however, that Kshamenk may have been force-stranded (driven ashore on purpose) and retained to circumvent Argentine laws against the commercial capture of wild marine mammals.
Six Flags has been encouraged in its pursuit of Kshamenk by the U.S. government. In May 2002, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) awarded Six Flags an import permit for Kshamenk, ignoring massive protest and the fact that Argentina hadn't issued an export permit.
Mundo Marino doesn't own Kshamenk. The orca is legally being held in trust by Mundo Marino for the people of Argentina. This means that Mundo Marino cannot sell Kshamenk because the orca isn't its property. Furthermore, Argentine Law forbids the export of live native wildlife, including orcas.
So it's no surprise that in late July 2002 Argentina categorically denied an export permit for Kshamenk, thus rendering the U.S. import permit not only invalid but also possibly a violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which requires that all actions associated with an import permit be legal in the country of origin.
Despite these legal concerns, Six Flags has indicated it intends to reapply for an import permit in the near future.
The HSUS applauded Argentina's government for blocking the export of Kshamenk in 2002. Now we're asking the government to uphold its own laws even more strongly: Kshamenk should not have been retained in captivity after his stranding, and he now deserves every opportunity to be returned to the wild in Argentina. Help ensure that Kshamenk is not robbed of that opportunity by allowing him to be sent thousands of miles from his home.
What You Can Do
Send a letter by postal mail, fax, or e-mail to Argentina's Secretary of the Environment, Dr. Atilio Savino. Make the following points in your own words:
- Argentina must uphold its laws prohibiting the export of native wildlife.
- Mundo Marino has no legal right to sell or export Kshamenk because the marine park does not own him but is keeping him in trust.
- Kshamenk should be released back into the wild, not sold to a marine park in another country.
The Honorable Dr. Atilio Savino
Secretario de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable
San Martín 459–1004
Buenos Aires ARGENTINA
Fax: 011 54 11 4348 8554
asavino@medioambiente.gov.ar
Please e-mail a copy of your letter to Victoria Lichtschein at Argentina's Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) authority, at vlichtsc@medioambiente.gov.ar.
