CAMPAIGNS

DOLPHINS

Suffering, not Smiling
The Truth About Captive Dolphins

What happens to the dolphins now?
Following the revelation that four of the dolphins at Dolphin Lagoon had been caught from the wild despite the fact they were classified as ‘captive bred’ on the CITES import and export permits, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) stated that, since Dolphin Lagoon was registered as a zoological facility and because the dolphins were brought in for educational and captive breeding purposes, Underwater World Singapore could keep the dolphins.

In a similar case (the ‘Taiping Four’), four gorillas were transferred from Ibadan Zoo, Nigeria to Taiping Zoo, Malaysia. As with the dolphins, these gorillas were wild caught but listed as captive bred on the CITES permits. However, Malaysia, which like Singapore and Thailand is a signatory to CITES, has since confiscated these wild caught gorillas, even though the gorillas were also imported for education and conservation.

Acres urges the AVA to follow similar actions and confiscate the wild caught dolphins from Dolphin Lagoon.

As a signatory to CITES, Singapore is obliged to ensure the protection of the highly endangered Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins, a species that is native to our Indo-Pacific waters. Under Article III of the CITES convention text, it states clearly that the export of Appendix I species “cannot be detrimental to the survival of that species”.

If these dolphins were indeed captive bred as previously stated by UWS on their website and on the CITES permits, then the export and import of these captive bred animals would not have had a detrimental effect on this species in the wild and could be allowed. However, it has now been established that at least four of the dolphins were caught from the wild. Furthermore, they were caught in Thailand where the World Conservation Union (IUCN) has stated emphatically in their report that fishermen are catching live specimens of these pink dolphins because of the demands from the marine parks and that they are no longer found in large parts of their former home range in Thailand.

The question here is not whether these dolphins are for educational or breeding purposes, but whether the acquisition of these wild-caught dolphins is detrimental to the survival of this species. As the evidence clearly suggests, the answer is YES.

The illegal wildlife trade continues to pose a major threat to the survival of many highly endangered animals. The Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins in Thailand will move one step closer towards extinction if governments around the world continue to allow trading in wild caught individuals of this species of dolphin and if marine parks continue to acquire wild caught Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins.

Acres urges the public and the authorities to support calls for the dolphins to be returned to the oceans where they belong, so that our future generations will not be bereft of another beautiful mammal in their world. We need to fight against the extinction of the Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphin, and we need to start today.


Help us campaign against the captive dolphin industry.


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