Keeping Wildlife Wild

For as long as I can remember, I have cared deeply about the safekeeping of wildlife. I believe that we all have a moral obligation to act as good stewards of the environment and to ensure the preservation of wild and endangered animals for the benefit of future generations.

Earlier this year, I introduced Assembly Bill 892 in response to shocking allegations regarding animal neglect and abuse at certain facilities in California.  I believe that this critical piece of legislation will offer essential protections for both wild animals and the public interacting with the animals in a captive setting. One such example of why this legislation is necessary is the story of what’s happening at SeaQuest in Folsom, California.

SeaQuest is a national interactive aquarium and zoo chain where customers can pay to pet, feed, hold and even swim with wild animals. Its only California location is in Folsom’s Palladio Mall. Over the past year, ABC10 conducted an extensive investigation into SeaQuest. In total, 19 former SeaQuest Folsom employees exposed SeaQuest’s management and corporate team for putting profit first, saying management’s sole focus and push to sell interactions created dangerous, dirty, even deadly conditions. 

The ABC10 investigation revealed that animals had no breaks from customers between interactions – no daylight or fresh air. Some employees said SeaQuest’s management went as far as ordering them to stop feeding animals and animals could only be fed by paying customers, causing animals to starve and lash out. Sadly, over 1,000 animals have died at SeaQuest Folsom since it opened in 2018, according to estimates from some of the interviewed employees. If a human being were treated under these conditions, we would call that cruel and unusual punishment.

Public contact with wild animals jeopardizes animal welfare, public health and safety, and conservation efforts. Close encounters with small wild cats, small primates, sloths, otters, kangaroos and wallabies are on the rise and so is the cruelty associated with using wild animals for public handling. USDA data from 2021 showed that almost 45% of licensed facilities offered interactions between the public and animals— a figure that nearly doubled between 2019 and 2021. Encounters may be found in stationary facilities or traveling exhibits, often under the guise of conservation education.

Wild animals can spread viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic infections that pose serious health risks to people. Public handling is largely unregulated by any agency resulting in wild animals injuring members of the public, including children, during such encounters. 

Forcing wild animals into repeated interactions with paying customers results in significant welfare impacts. Breeding bears, small cats, kangaroos, wallabies, sloths and otters for public encounters leads to surplus animals after they grow too large or injurious or can no longer be coerced to participate in public encounters. They all too frequently end up in backyard menageries, poorly run facilities or sent to auction or slaughter. And studies confirm that seeing humans interact with endangered or threatened species can decrease public awareness of their plight in the wild. As you can imagine, social media images of people interacting with wild animals exacerbate the problem, fueling greater interest in encounters and keeping wild animals as pets. 

AB 892 prohibits a person from allowing any member of the public to come into direct contact with specified animals held in captivity. If passed, the bill would mean an end to hand-feeding, petting or holding certain animals at facilities like SeaQuest Folsom – including sloths, wallabies and otters, which are some of that site’s most popular attractions. These animal-human encounters are exceedingly profit driven. 

You may be asking how AB 892 might impact traditional zoos and aquariums.  After all, California is home to some of the world’s best zoos and aquariums that have been leaders in education and the preservation of endangered species, including the Los Angeles Zoo here in our own backyard. Accredited zoos and aquariums are held to high standards for animal care with robust oversight.  Many of them have already ended encounter programs for species covered in the bill out of recognition of the harmful impact on the animals. In contrast, facilities like SeaQuest operate without the same oversight. AB 892 will help ensure that vulnerable animals in captivity are protected, regardless of where they live.  

Assembly Bill 892 is proudly supported by the Humane Society of the United States, Animal Legal Defense Fund, Humane World for Animals and the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). But we want to hear directly from you!

As always, you can contact our district office team at 300 E. Magnolia Blvd., Suite 504, in Burbank. You can contact us during regular business hours by emailing Assemblymember.Schultz@asm.ca.gov or by calling (818) 558-3043.