A white alligator rests in shallow waters. Picture credit: Pixabay - CC0
Florida’s alligator wrestling industry is seeing a decline in attendance after tourists deem the spectacle as cruel.
After Blackfish, the ground-breaking film that awakened controversy over captive orcas, SeaWorld has since closed its popular killer whale shows. Today, the concept known as the blackfish effect is permeating Florida’s tradition of alligator wrestling.
“We have noticed not as many people visiting the [alligator] wrestling show,” said Mark McHugh, the CEO of Gatorland, the largest and oldest alligator theme park in the United States. Gatorland is home to over 2,000 American Alligators and holds daily shows where a trained wrestler tries to overpower an alligator. There are an estimated 200 similar wildlife tourism spots in Florida that feature alligator wrestling shows.
The tradition started when Seminole Native Americans wrestled alligators as a hunting technique. At the turn of the 20th century, they started to market the spectacle as a form of roadside tourism to generate revenue.
“The gators clearly do not want to be wrestling”
“It should be made illegal and stopped,” said Nick Atwood, a spokesperson for the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF). The non-profit frequently holds protests in front of Gatorland. “The gators clearly do not want to be wrestling,” he added.
Tourists agree. According to a Fauna survey of 25 parents that visited Gatorland, 18 felt the gator wrestling show was “more entertaining” than “educational”. Tabitha Frazier visited Gatorland with her two children, both 11 years old, and declared she would never return. “My son started crying during the show,” she said.
Blackfish ignited an international conversation in 2013 that it is beginning to erode other unique forms of wildlife tourism. Gatorland recently installed a zip-line and rollercoaster to contend as a general amusement park in a last-ditch effort to change their public image from alligator wrestling to alligator education.
Noah Eckstein
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