Congratulations to WDCS in Germany
Its rare that I would publicly identify WDCS colleagues for individual actions but it would be remiss of me not to mention the outstanding work of the German WDCS team for their incredible work in taking on Nuremberg Zoo for the public's right to access information about the dolphins it keeps. Yesterday the Munch Appeals Court ruled in WDCS's favour by granting the public access to all information relating to the display and husbandry of captive dolphins at the Zoo.
You might think on first inspection that this ruling is a small matter, but its a first and will have a dramatic effect on conservation and welfare campaigns for whales and dolphins. It means that the days when cetaceans were just to be thought of as the property of a zoo or aquarium are long gone, and that such institutions have a duty of care to the public to open its doors and files to independent scientific evaluations of its data relating to dolphins in
captivity. We can now ask such questions as 'what is the keeping of dolphins in captivity doing for animals in the wild?' and, 'how successful is their captive breeding programme?'.
A bright light has been shone into the darkness of this commercial industry which has more to do with the circus than conservation.
So to Dr. Karsten Brensing, Niki Entrup and the whole German team, - chapeau! Your actions have brought the end of dolphinaria in Europe a lot closer.
WDCS on Twitter
WDCS on Facebook
WDCS on YouTube