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Vaquita. Photo Thomas Jefferson

Scientific Committee gives first ever official species extinction warning

Photo: Thomas Jefferson We have welcomed the urgent call by experts to protect the vaquita...
blue whale

Whale fossil from Peru may have been heavier than blue whale

Scientists examining the bones of a 39 million-year-old ancient whale have concluded that it may...
Humpback whale © Christopher Swann

Humpback whales breach in synchronisation

Humpback whales are renowned for their incredible acrobatic displays, but a family in the USA...
Long-finned pilot whale

Unusual activity witnessed before pilot whale stranding

Just days after a pod of long-finned pilot whales stranded on an island in the...

Banning captive whale and dolphin breeding is cruel… says captivity park director

A marine park holding whales and dolphins in France has pledged to fight the recently introduced ban  on breeding orcas and dolphins in captivity.

French authorities announced an end to captive breeding just days ago, which represents a major blow for the captivity industry in the country and a major victory for WDC’s anti-captivity campaign.

Bizarrely, Jon Kershaw, Wildlife Director at Marineland in southern France has called the ban cruel. He said it could hurt the animals held captive. ” I am sure that this will have an effect on the animals’ life expectancy. It’s not normal, it’s not logical to establish on the one hand a decree made for protecting animals, and on the other hand harming them like that. I don’t understand,” he said.

In reality, captive whales and dolphins live shorter lives than they do in the wild. This is significant given the fact that they are kept in an environment that is free of predators, pollution and other threats that they face in the wild. Wild dolphins can swim up to 100 miles a day but in captivity they have very little space in which to move around and so display unnatural behaviour. The captive environment can never replace their natural one.

Read more about the cruelty of captivity, how WDC is fighting to end it and donate now.