Acquisition of 25 dolphins in line with global
requirements: Marine Life Park
By Alvina Soh | Posted: 13
October 2012 1716 hrs
SINGAPORE: Singapore's Marine Life Park said its
acquisition of 25 Indo-pacific bottlenose dolphins caught in the
wild, followed international requirements.
A spokesman of Marine Life Park said Saturday that they are in line
with the requirements of the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which regulates
the trade of animals to protect wildlife species from
extinction.
The spokesman had said so in response to queries from Channel
NewsAsia on a report that a court in the Philippines has moved to
stop the 25 dolphins from being re-exported to Singapore.
This followed calls from environmentalists and activists to prevent
the transfer of the mammals, which are housed temporarily in Manila
before being sent to Marine Life Park.
A report on the website of The Philippine Star said a Quezon City
court decided on Friday to stop the Department of Agriculture and
the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources from issuing a permit
to re-export the 25 dolphins in Ocean Adventure Park in
Subic.
The report added that the court granted a petition by animal
welfare groups and issued a 72-hour "temporary environment
protection order" preventing the re-export of the dolphins.
The dolphins were imported from the Solomon Islands in 2008, 2009,
and 2011 and brought to Subic for training while Marine Life Park
was under construction.
The Philippine report said the court decided to stop the
're-exportation' on the grounds that doing so would cause
irreparable damage to the dolphins.
Responding to the report, the spokesman of Marine Life Park said on
Saturday that the movement of marine animals, including dolphins,
is governed by the United Nations Environment Programme which
upholds the policies of CITES.
Marine Life Park's spokesman said the dolphins are currently doing
well in the Philippines.
He added that the Marine Life Park has an experienced team of
animal experts who collectively represent over 300 years of
experience working in more than 60 reputable zoological facilities
around the world.
"With a mission to promote marine education, conservation and
research, Marine Life Park strives to offer an educational and
memorable experience that inspires a generation of stewards for the
environment," said the statement from Marine Life Park.
But Singapore animal welfare group ACRES said on Saturday that it
welcomes the latest news.
ACRES' chief executive Louis Ng said, "It has sent a very strong
message out. A judge has reviewed the case, they've reviewed the
literature and have agreed that this re-export shouldn't take
place.
"We hope that they will make this ban permanent, and we are hopeful
that the Philippines government will uphold the law and return
these dolphins back to the Solomon Islands."
ACRES added that it would be a violation of Philippine law to allow
the dolphins to be re-exported to Singapore and highlighted that
the capture of the dolphins was unsustainable as the Indo-Pacific
bottlenose dolphins were a "very localised and small
population."
Marine Life Park at Resorts World Sentosa, billed as the world's
largest oceanarium, is scheduled to open by December, and will
involve more than 100,000 marine animals.
- CNA
