MoEF panel prohibits dolphin parks

There are plans to set up big dolphin acquarim for public display in upcoming Noida mall and in Cochin in Kerala.

Setting up of dolphin-aquariums in India will remain a distant dream. An environment ministry panel has said it has neither given nor it will give permission to set up dolphinariums as it amounted to cruelty to animals.

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There are plans to set up big dolphin acquarim for public display in upcoming Noida mall and in Cochin in Kerala. The Kerala park being developed by a government agency with the help of a Dubai based company would be one the biggest in India.

But, the ministry’s statutory body, the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), has asked all states not to entertain any application for setting up of dolphinariums without its prior permission.

“The AWBI certificate has to be pre-facto and cannot be post facto…it is pertinent to note that ABWI has not issued any certificate to cetaceans and has taken decision not to issue performing certificate to cetaceans in future,” the circular issued on Monday said.

The board believes that allowing import of these animals for the purpose of display and performance would amount to cruelty under the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals Act, 1960.

And, these were said to be a prime reason for death of four imported dolphins at India’s first dolphinariums in Chennai in mid-1990s. Many countries across the world such as Britain, Chile and Brazil has banned display of captured dolphins, which became popular after United States set up such parks initially.

Not only captivity of dolphins is bad for their health, the board said, they also “mis-educate” public about wildlife and marine environment. “They (people) tend to believe that the tricks they see are how cetaceans truly behave in the wild and they are pets,” the board said in its three-page circular.

Under the rules, import of dolphins, which swim 150 kms in a day, is allowed only after obtaining permission from a government authority. The board says no such permission should be given by the states without its consent.