Chris Packham says ‘free the penguins’ after 14 years in London aquarium ‘bunker’

Chris Packham joined campaigners calling for the release of 15 penguins kept in what he called ‘hideous’ conditions at the Sea Life London Aquarium on Sunday.

The naturalist was part of the Free The Fifteen protest, which saw as many as 300 people rally against keeping 15 penguins in captivity at the Westminster attraction.

The aquarium opened its first penguin exhibit in May 2011, introducing 10 gentoo penguins from Edinburgh Zoo. The animals ‘have now endured 14 years in a basement’ with a pool of only six to seven feet deep, campaigners said. 

A spokesperson for the Sea Life London Aquarium said in a statement on Sunday the penguins’ habitat was ‘designed with help and advice from specialist vets.’

They added: ‘It provides an excellent balance of water and land for the penguins which enables them to express their normal behaviours and there is space for them to ensure they have sufficient privacy.’

But TV presenter Chris rejected the venue’s claims and called it ‘a blight on the reputation of London’s attractions’.

‘I could get some specialist architects to build you and me a house in an asbestos factory – we wouldn’t want to live in it, would we? It’s bulls***,’ he said.

‘Do we really want that reputation stained by a greedy company that’s keeping some birds in a basement for profit and with no conservation or other educational value?’

He added: ‘We’ve learned sufficiently enough about their (the penguins’) behavioural, physiological and ecological needs to know that if you’re going to keep to these animals in captivity at all, you need a custom-built facility, and it’s certainly not one that’s in the bunker of a building underground, where they never see sunlight and they never get fresh air.

‘It’s not acceptable, they’ve got to move them.’

Merlin Entertainments owns the attraction. The company is co-run by Blackstone Group, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), and Kirkbi, the investment arm of the Lego family.

The theme park giant owns UK attractions including Alton Towers, Legoland Windsor, Madame Tussauds, Thorpe Park, and Chessington World of Adventures.

Chris added the company has the financial means to relocate the birds to a more suitable facility in the UK, like the London or Edinburgh Zoos, which are equipped with outdoor penguin enclosures.

‘It would be a win-win-win: win for the penguins, win for the zoos who could afford to update their facilities further, and a win for Merlin because they could clear their conscience which is otherwise blighted by this hideous, hideous condition of these birds,’ Chris said.

Musician-turned-environmentalist Feargal Sharkey, who attended the protest, accused the company of exploiting the birds for profit. He dared the new Merlin Entertainments chief executive Fiona Eastwood to ‘swap places with the penguins’.

‘In fact, if she’s prepared to actually spend a month down there with those penguins, I will donate £1,000 of my money to a charity of her choosing,’ Feargal said.

‘As we now know, some of them have been there for 14 years, in the basement of a former council building.

‘It’s a shocking indictment, not only that actually, clearly, Merlin is now set up to benefit nobody but their shareholders.

‘There is no reason that they should be benefiting at all from imprisoning 15 birds in the basement of an old council building.

‘It’s idiotic. It’s a nonsense, and it’s got to stop,’ Feargal added.

The protest was organised by Freedom For Animals with support from Born Free and The Express newspaper.

Freedom For Animals also launched a petition which more than 13,000 people have signed, and argued that since gentoo penguins are not classed as an endangered species, there is no reason to breed and keep them in captivity.

Sea Life aquariums counted more than 30,000 sea creatures across 11 centres in the UK at this year’s stocktake. The spokesperson continued that the attraction is ‘committed to supporting conservation causes globally’.

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