Dolphins illegally in Constanta? Dolphinarium owners refusing DNA analyses

The animal protection organization ProWal and the Whale and Dolphin Protection Forum (WDSF) are looking for evidence in the dolphinarium in Constanta, Romania, of their illegal import of dolphins from Taiji/Japan. Last September, ProWal inspected the dolphinarium in Constanta, Romania, after the organization was told that dolphins were held there, which came from the brutal drive-hunts in Taiji. ProWal found only two of the original three dolphins, which were bought for 500.000 Euros from a zoo in Peking under the pretense that these were captivity-bred dolphins. He was told that one dolphin had died. The Romanian dolphinarium owner, furthermore, maintained that these dolphins were second generation. This, however, could time wise not be possible, the dolphin-protection organization replied, since the only successful breeding of a dolphin happened as proven in 2003 and this dolphin calf did not survive. The dolphin protectors, furthermore, pointed out that there was no documentation of any successful breeding in the second generation ever in Peking. To the contrary, China, Russia and the Ukraine belong to the group of the largest buyers of dolphins caught in the wild from Japan. The Romanian government in Bucharest also refused to hand over documentation regarding DNA analysis and so did the dolphinarium owner in Constanta. Juergen Ortmueller, CEO of the WDSF: “We are missing here transparency from all the dolphinariums in Europe, which are hiding behind their own creation the EEP, so that nobody from the outside can find out what is going on.”

None of the 30 dolphinariums in the EU answered when asked about the DNA analysis of the dolphins held in captivity in zoos and pleasure parks, which would have no doubt given insight into the origin of the dolphins. The Washington Species Protection Act (CITES) forbids the import of dolphins for commercial use.

Source: www.mareeg.com