Born Free joins youth representatives to call for an end to penguin incarceration

Campaigners, including Born Free’s Dr Mark Jones, and Junior Ambassador Leo Sordello-Savale, outside Sea Life London (c) Daily Express

Wild gentoo penguins hunt for fish across vast areas of ocean, swimming at more than 20mph and diving to depths of 200 metres. Life for the penguins at Sea Life London is a stark contrast – they have no access to natural daylight or open air and their tiny pool is just 2 metres deep.

Born Free has been campaigning alongside Freedom for Animals and others to secure the release of the penguins, ideally to a sanctuary, but at the very least to a facility that can provide better living conditions.

Born Free Junior Ambassador Leo Sordello-Savale

Born Free’s Head of Policy Dr Mark Jones was joined outside the facility by our Junior Ambassador Leo Sordello-Savale, 11, who said: “Seeing penguins in a basement, in London, with no natural light and on fake ice is neither fun nor educational. No child wants to see animals suffer. It’s time Sea Life stops using children’s education to justify their cruelty.”

They were joined by Naila Seetal, the 11-year-old Child Prime Minister of the Sir David Amess UK Children’s Parliament, who said: “As children, we know how important freedom and fresh air are for happiness. That’s why I’m backing the campaign to free the Gentoo 15. Penguins deserve sunlight, space to swim, and a real sky above them – not life in a dark basement. We must give them their freedom.”

Speaking after the event, Dr Jones added: “Born Free has always campaigned against the captive exploitation of wind animals. Gentoo penguins are highly active and gregarious birds who have evolved to live in sub-Antarctic regions, making use of vast areas of land and sea. They are doing well in the wild so keeping and breeding them in captivity serves no conservation purpose. Moreover, the only thing that seeing penguins in a basement of a building in London can teach us is that they don’t belong there.

“We’re proud to stand alongside these brave young people to call on Sea Life London, and its parent company Merlin Entertainments, to relinquish the penguins to a sanctuary, or at the very least to a facility that can provide them with a better life.”

Sea Life London first acquired gentoo penguins from Edinburgh Zoo in 2011. Gentoo penguins can live for 20 years or more.