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Taiji Whale Museum resigns from aquaria body over dolphin hunt ban

Taiji Whale Museum resigns from aquaria body over dolphin hunt ban

The Taiji Whale Museum has left the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) after it failed to comply with new rules preventing members from obtaining dolphins from the infamous drive hunts that take part in the village. The drive hunt season started on Sept. 1st and the Museum, which has a dolphinarium, has already placed…

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Scottish town cuts links with Faroes over cruel whale hunts

A Scottish town has severed its links with the Faroes in protest at the annual whale and dolphin hunts that take place on the islands. Wick, in Caithness, has been twinned with Klaksvik (the second largest town on the Faroe Islands) for 20 years.  There have been regular exchange visits in that time but, in a…

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Over 250 whales die in Faroes hunts

It has emerged that over 250 pilot whales have been slaughtered in just one day in the Faroes.  The two hunts (or grinds) took place in the killing cove of Bøur, where 111 pilot whales were slaughtered, and one just a few hours later in Tórshavn, where 142 pilot whales were killed.  The total killed…

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Second hunt of the season on Faroes

Reports from the Faroes indicate that a second hunt (or ‘grind’) has taken place there. On June 29th, 20-30 pilot whales were driven into the shore by boats and slaughtered in Hvannasund on the northern island of Vidoy. The first grind of the season occurred on June 6th in Midvagur on the island of Vagar,…

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Faroese Prime Minister claims whale hunt is regulated

The Faroese Prime Minister, Kaj Leo Holm Johannesen, has claimed that whaling in the islands is “sustainable and fully-regulated” in a statement issued in response to recent criticism of the continued hunting of pilot whales. He goes on to say that the hunt is a natural part of Faroes life that has being going on for…

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Large group of pilot whales slaughtered in Faroes hunt

Reports from the Faroes suggest that over 150 pilot whales have been killed in the first drive hunt (grind) of the year . The slaughter, which involves the herding of whales by boats into shallow coves, took place on the island of Vágar in the northwest of the Faroe Islands. The grinds are an extremely…

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JAZA decides to comply with WAZA’s Code of Ethics. What next?

News broke today that the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA), after a board meeting and vote of its membership, would respond to the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (WAZA) recent suspension by announcing that it would comply with WAZA’s ethical mandates to no longer procure live dolphins from the dolphin drive hunts…

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Japanese aquariums agree to stop taking dolphins from Taiji hunts

The Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) has voted in favour of no longer using the Taiji dolphin hunts as a supply of dolphins for its marine parks. A majorty of the organization’s 153 members, of which 37 hold dolphins, supported the decision. The announcement came a month after the World Association of Zoos…

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