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10 Dec, 11 tweets, 6 min read
Canada's last captive orca lives in a theme park near Niagara Falls. She's been there for decades. In the past 10 years, she's been alone, and developed behaviours experts call atypical, like thrashing her body and lingering near the surface, motionless.
thestar.com/news/2021/mari…
Her name is Kiska. Researchers say she is the only captive orca in the world in this predicament, living in total isolation on public display. For years, there has been wide consensus among experts that Kiska’s solitary life is unnatural.
thestar.com/news/2021/mari…
Over the past several months, videos recorded at Marineland and shared online have gone viral, capturing the attention of people far beyond Canada. Headlines from media around the world have labelled Kiska “the world’s loneliest orca.”
thestar.com/news/2021/mari…
Kiska’s situation is “profoundly disturbing” and represents an orca struggling to thrive in her captive environment, the latest report @OrcaTrust read. What Kiska should have, most experts agree, is companionship.
thestar.com/news/2021/mari…
The tank where Kiska spends the majority of her time is small, Ingrid Visser of Orca Trust Research told the Star. That excludes a shallow area that is not deep enough for the orca to swim or be submerged. thestar.com/news/2021/mari…
Marineland did not speak to the Star for this story but has maintained over the years that its animals are well cared for and healthy.
thestar.com/news/2021/mari…
Kiska’s welfare is “severely compromised,” Visser argues in the One Voice report. She cites physical evidence of Kiska’s stereotypic behaviour: including raw wounds observed on her tail flukes, Visser alleges. thestar.com/news/2021/mari…
Kiska has also been observed to often linger motionless of her tank. In the wild, it's unusual for orcas to stay still for more than a few moments. Video courtesy of Phil Demers: thestar.com/news/2021/mari…
Thrashing her body near the glass wall of her enclosure indicates a "severe stereotypy," one expert said. Videos documenting the behaviour were shared on social media. Video courtesy of Phil Demers. thestar.com/news/2021/mari…
Andrew Burns, a lawyer for Marineland responded to the Star over email for a period of about a month. “Perhaps the videos are so short and so unclear none of (the experts) can make sufficient observations to provide a remotely credible opinion at all."
thestar.com/news/2021/mari…
The Last Orca.

Read the full story by @_jennamoon thestar.com/news/2021/mari…

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10 Dec
Suicide in the Canadian military is known to be more prevalent than in the general population — but a new research review out of Queen’s University and the Centre of Excellence on PTSD found family members face a similar risk as well. thestar.com/news/canada/20…
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10 Dec
More than 5 million Ontarians will need a third COVID-19 vaccine by the end of December to boost their protection against Omicron, according to the scientific director of the province’s science advisory table.

Can we ramp up capacity like in the summer?
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9 Dec
Hundreds of phoney vaccine tests and certificates have been found by Canadian border officials. Is anyone facing consequences?

Story from @alex_mckeen & @Nuttallreports thestar.com/news/canada/20…
Border officials in both Canada and the U.S. are catching people they suspect of trying to cheat vaccine rules to cross the border by the hundreds — but far fewer are seeing fines.
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Toronto Star Profile picture
9 Dec
Ontario’s workplace laws should be updated to give those in the gig economy some — but not all — employment protections, a government-appointed committee exploring the future of work says.

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“They deserve a pay stub and transparency over their pay.”
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Toronto Star Profile picture
9 Dec
Canada "urgently" needs an independent commission to review cases that might have resulted in wrongful convictions to ensure that those involving Black and Indigenous people are re-examined, a report commissioned by the Canadian government says. torstar.co/pOKU50H7oGb
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Toronto Star Profile picture
9 Dec
Can you believe it's been 9 years since the Ikea Monkey stormed the store and the internet? 🐒

The Star's @madiwongg is here to take you down a trip through memory lane⬇️
thestar.com/topic.ikea_mon…
In December of 2012, Darwin, the very small but very fashionable monkey was found at an Ikea parking garage in North York, Ont.
thestar.com/topic.ikea_mon…
Toronto Animal Services initially brought him into custody but he was later transferred to Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary in Sunderland, Ont.
thestar.com/topic.ikea_mon…
Read 7 tweets

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