WDCS has worked diligently to end the dolphin drive hunts in Japan, from sending staff to document the hunts on-the-ground in Japan, to supporting filmmaker Hardy Jones of Bluevoice.org, and developing an educational outreach program with Elsa Nature Conservancy to raise the profile of the hunts with the public. We also have worked with the marine mammal research community to garner a statement and movement against the drive hunts from within this scientific community. WDCS also helped procure a congressional resolution against the drive hunts sponsored by Senator Lautenberg (D-NJ). And, finally, WDCS has worked to procure the growing acknowledgement from the public display industry of its complicity in fueling the dolphin drive hunts through the demand generated by marine parks and aquaria that either directly, or indirectly, source live dolphins from these hunts.
See our report, Driven by Demand and www.drivenbydemand.org.
In 2004, WAZA (World Association of Zoos and Aquaria) issued a statement condemning the practice of the drive hunts and WDCS has welcomed its more recent moves to condemn the acquisition of live dolphins from these hunts. We now welcome a statement from the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums, issued in May 2007, which directly opposes the acquisition of animals from Japan’s drive hunts.
The full statement reads: “The Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums opposes acquisition of animals from the Japanese drive fisheries. The methods used to kill whales and dolphins in these centuries-old fisheries are cruel. The Alliance supports the ethical collection of marine mammals from the wild in a humane, legal, and prudent manner for public display, education, and scientific study.”
Stay tuned for a forthcoming announcement regarding Japan Dolphin Day to occur on September 25th, 2007. WDCS will be attending demonstrations in Boston and London, and joining international conservation and welfare groups in major cities across the globe to protest the annual dolphin drive hunts that occur in Taiji and Futo, Japan from September through April of every year. In these drive hunts, up to 2,000 small whales and dolphins, including bottlenose, Risso’s, striped, spotted and pilot whales are herded to shore and then systematically slaughtered, or selected alive and sold to marine parks.
WE NEED YOUR HELP! We hope that you will join us in a city near you, or sign the action alerts that will be available soon on our websites. SAVE THE DATE!
