A former animal coach turned animal rights campaigner received a decade-long battle to get a beloved walrus re-homed. But his success is bittersweet, because the zoo taking within the animal, named Smooshi, is greater than 6,800 miles away from the place the activist lives. Phil Demers met Smooshi in 2004, when she was dropped at Canada from Russia as an 18-month-old calf.

The animal was one of many walruses acquired by Marineland, an aquatic zoo in Canada hit by quite a few allegations through the years - at all times firmly denied.

When he first took the job as an animal coach on the park, Mr Demers was not involved with the claims and was focused on "impressing" his supervisors "that seemingly knew what they were doing".

But he claimed to have quickly began to note issues, all whereas he was creating a robust bond with the walrus.

While he was attempting to settle down Smooshi as she underwent a medical process, Mr Demers mentioned the animal "imprinted" on him and started to assume he was her mom.

The pair finally turned inseparable. He informed the BBC: "She has a great sense of humour. She was hyper-aware of everyone and of her surroundings. You always had to be aware of her jokes and pranks, as she always kept us on our toes."

The animal, he defined, would generally playfully misbehave to get a response out of him.

His bond with Smooshi heightened his concern about her welfare, Mr Demers mentioned, explaining he may now not bear what he claimed was neglect of animals at Marineland. After he give up in 2012, he started his quest to rescue the walrus.

Soon after, he was sued by the zoo, which banned him from the park and claimed he had trespassed and plotted to steal the walrus - which weighs some 800lbs (363kg). Mr Demers, who denies the allegation, sued the aquatic zoo for defamation.

The activist's battle lasted 10 years and price him £158,150 (C$250,000) in authorized charges, however finally led to success.

Last yr, Marineland agreed to drop the lawsuit and re-house Smooshi and her calf Kayuk, stating it was "in the best interest of the walruses".

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The activist stays banned from the zoo, however the organisation allowed him to fulfill Smooshi as soon as once more as a part of the settlement.

However, the pair have been separated by rope and a guard rail - which the walrus "started to climb" after seeing him, Mr Demers mentioned. He claimed that, as he was attempting to achieve her, "they immediately took her back".

Smooshi and Kayuk have since been shipped to a model new Sea World park in Abu Dhabi, set to open its doorways on May 23.

Mr Demers, who can also be a letter provider, mentioned he stays towards the captivity of animals, however he's completely satisfied the 2 walruses are out of Marineland.

The man is already planning when to go to the beloved animal, and confessed a video of Smooshi from Sea World introduced him to tears. He added: "I don't want to interrupt anything, I only just want to go there and see her breathing that fresher air."

In a press release to the British broadcaster, Sea World mentioned walruses from a number of zoos and aquariums all over the world have "arrived safely" in Abu Dhabi and are "comfortably settling into their new home".

Given common temperatures in Abu Dhabi are 35.5C through the hottest months, the walruses - usually discovered across the freezing North Pole and the Arctic Ocean - will dwell in a habitat "designed specifically for the species".

Marineland, beforehand residence to the orca Keiko which starred within the movie Free Willy, turned the location of frequent protests by animal rights activists and has been the topic of investigations by native police, the US authorities and Ontario's Animal Welfare Services, with the latter two ongoing.

In 2021, the Ontario's animal welfare watchdog informed the park to restore the water system within the swimming pools that home beluga whales, dolphins, walruses, sea lions and one killer whale. The inspection discovered the marine mammals have been in misery attributable to poor water high quality.

Marineland refuted the findings. The zoo has additionally persistently denied any wrongdoing in the case of its housing and therapy of animals and has known as out "radical animal activist" teams for making false allegations towards the zoo. They have additionally argued that their show of marine animals is for instructional functions.

Express.co.uk has contacted Marineland for remark.