Dolphins have evolved over millions of years. Intelligent, social and self-aware with a high level emotion makes us fall in love with them, but also exploit them worldwide — including Indonesia.
It is impossible to assure the welfare of captive marine mammals. Many die prematurely and that's if they survive the brutal and traumatic capture process.
Around seventy wild caught dolphins are currently suffering in traveling circuses and tiny pools in hotels and also beachside.
In 2010, local group Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indonesian National Forestry Commission. A large number of illegally kept dolphins were to be rescued, rehabilitated and released from private businesses in Java and Bali. Only two months after the agreement there was a change of director who did not support the program, yet supported businesses like Taman Safari and Wersut Seguni Indonesia (WSI) who catch and keep dolphins.
WSI is a holding center for dolphins in Central Java province. Dolphins are illegally caught from the Java Sea by local fishermen, employed and equipped by those making huge profits from captive dolphin attractions.
In order to avoid existing laws prohibiting the deliberate capture of dolphins, this practice is done at night and the fishermen claim the dolphins were tangled in fishing nets thus exploiting a loophole in the law.
These "rescued" dolphins are taken to WSI for "treatment" and the Forestry Department issues a temporary permit to keep the dolphins "until healthy and ready for release." To date not one dolphin has been released back into the wild and a 90-meter (approx. 295 feet) sea pen built by Earth Island Institute and JAAN, under the supervision of Ric O'Barry, lies empty in Karimum Jawa National Park.
There are many Japanese tourists visiting
そこにはたくさんの日本人観光客が訪れます
So what of these places where dolphins are forced to suffer unimaginable cruelty on a daily basis? Many of the 70-plus captive dolphins are forced to perform in traveling circuses which continue to be extremely popular in Indonesia — even broadcast on television.
Kept in tiny containers of water, they spend hours traveling from village to village on bumpy roads. Many die during transport and WSI simply replaces them with new wild-caught dolphins (once again exploiting the "rescued" loophole). All this under the authorization of the Central Java Forestry Department and the Bali Forestry Department Offices.
In May 2012 the head of the Central Java Department was changed. Traveling circus owners organized and paid for his leaving party.
Despite a ban on travel shows in August 2013 by the then-Forestry Minister Mr. Zul Hasan, the travel circus continues to perform, showing that local department won't even take orders from its own Minister, but prioritize a business exploiting dolphins.
Dolphins have evolved over millions of years. Intelligent, social and self-aware with a high level emotion makes us fall in love with them, but also exploit them worldwide — including Indonesia.
It is impossible to assure the welfare of captive marine mammals. Many die prematurely and that's if they survive the brutal and traumatic capture process.
Around seventy wild caught dolphins are currently suffering in traveling circuses and tiny pools in hotels and also beachside.
In 2010, local group Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indonesian National Forestry Commission. A large number of illegally kept dolphins were to be rescued, rehabilitated and released from private businesses in Java and Bali. Only two months after the agreement there was a change of director who did not support the program, yet supported businesses like Taman Safari and Wersut Seguni Indonesia (WSI) who catch and keep dolphins.
WSI is a holding center for dolphins in Central Java province. Dolphins are illegally caught from the Java Sea by local fishermen, employed and equipped by those making huge profits from captive dolphin attractions.
In order to avoid existing laws prohibiting the deliberate capture of dolphins, this practice is done at night and the fishermen claim the dolphins were tangled in fishing nets thus exploiting a loophole in the law.
These "rescued" dolphins are taken to WSI for "treatment" and the Forestry Department issues a temporary permit to keep the dolphins "until healthy and ready for release." To date not one dolphin has been released back into the wild and a 90-meter (approx. 295 feet) sea pen built by Earth Island Institute and JAAN, under the supervision of Ric O'Barry, lies empty in Karimum Jawa National Park.
So what of these places where dolphins are forced to suffer unimaginable cruelty on a daily basis? Many of the 70-plus captive dolphins are forced to perform in traveling circuses which continue to be extremely popular in Indonesia — even broadcast on television.
Kept in tiny containers of water, they spend hours traveling from village to village on bumpy roads. Many die during transport and WSI simply replaces them with new wild-caught dolphins (once again exploiting the "rescued" loophole). All this under the authorization of the Central Java Forestry Department and the Bali Forestry Department Offices.
In May 2012 the head of the Central Java Department was changed. Traveling circus owners organized and paid for his leaving party.
Despite a ban on travel shows in August 2013 by the then-Forestry Minister Mr. Zul Hasan, the travel circus continues to perform, showing that local department won't even take orders from its own Minister, but prioritize a business exploiting dolphins.
Photo: Jakarta Animal Aid Network
Indeed a dolphin pool opened in July last year in the very popular Bali resort of Keramas where four wild-caught juveniles now suffer in a tiny pool — the opening of this pool was attended by the local Forestry Department.
This pool was opened to compete with the notorious Melka Dolphin Resort Hotel whose website proudly boasts "Dolphin Show," "Swimming with Dolphins" and that money-induced myth "Dolphin Therapy." What they don't boast here is a high mortality rate amongst its dolphins, nor the fact that frustrated dolphins have been known to "rape" paying guests.
There is a floating sea pen just off the Bali coast in Sanur, but it's just an excuse for more exploitation and more money. The dolphins here weren't "rescued," nor will they ever be "released," which is what visitors are told as they hand over their money.
A change of government in October last year was hoped to bring change, but Indonesia continues to have a very big and serious problem with the dolphin trade.
Neglected by the authorities, it is having a big impact on the region's biodiversity and indeed the reputation of Indonesia itself.
We have all heard of those traveling circuses that transport their captive animals from city to city, forcing them to perform in an endless cycle of depressing servitude.
What you probably haven’t heard of is dolphins being featured as the main act.
As hard as it is to believe, dolphin traveling circuses are a big hit in Indonesia. There are three separate companies running these inhumane operations, much to the delight of the uninformed spectators who pay pennies each to see the dolphins perform. There are 72 dolphins currently enslaved in Indonesia illegally, many of which are in captivity in these three traveling circuses.
The Ric O'Barry Dolphin Project staff have been working closely with the Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN) to lobby the Indonesian government to release the dolphins, many of whom were illegally poached from their ocean homes. JAAN and Dolphin Project have constructed a sea pen, where the dolphins would be rehabilitated and released back to the wild.
However, the government has not issued promised permits to JAAN and Dolphin Project for these illegal dolphins, despite a previous agreement to turn over these abused animals. Read more about the ongoing situation here. JAAN and Dolphin Project are pursuing legal efforts and media attention to put pressure on the government to take action.
You can help. Urge the President of Indonesia to provide the captive dolphins to Jakarta Animal Aid Network and Dolphin Project, which are the ONLY organizations in Indonesia with the expertise, equipment, facilities and proven ability to care for, rehabilitate, and release captive dolphins back into the wild.
+++Message about captive dolphins from Dame Dr. Jane Goodall+++
February 24, 2013 by Ric O'Barry, Earth Island Institute
By Ric O’Barry
Director
Dolphin Project
Earth Island Institute
Things are continuing to get complicated in Indonesia. I was supposed to go home last week, but I stayed here in Bali anticipating a move of two dolphins, named Made and Wayan, who are kept in a small filthy swimming pool at a local café for the tourists. We had the Minister of Forestry himself come to see these dolphins, and he announced their treatment was inhumane and he would seize them with our help and move them to our sea pen for rehabilitation and release.
Well, last night the dolphins were spirited away from Bali and the café, being driven in a truck into the teeth of a typhoon to get them away from us. It is still not clear what the outcome will be. Below are the details by our friends from Jakarta Animal Aid Network http://jakartaanimalaid.com .
I will remain here in Bali until this can be sorted out, but we urge the Forestry Minister to take action. You can too (see the Twitter link below). – Ric O’Barry
Illegally Captive Dolphins in Bali Kidnapped!
Under an otherwise sunny and peaceful day on the southern beaches of Bali, Indonesia, another dark shadow is cast over the captive dolphin industry and the lack of government enforcement
The public, local, national, and regional press is outraged at the direct and blatant breach of contract, breach of commitment, breach of national laws and regulations regarding captive dolphins, Made and Wayan, being displayed at the Akame Restaurant in Benoa Harbor, Bali, Indonesia.
After openly admitting to the public and the press that Made and Wayan were being kept and commercially exploited illegally and that he would himself ensure the facility was closed down and Made and Wayan delivered immediately to a rehabilitation center that has been specifically designed for their rehabilitation, care, and release back into their natural habitat. But it appears the public announcements and promises provided care of the Mister of Forestry, Minister Zul Hasan, may have been lip service.
Following public meetings and forums during the first week of February in Jakarta questioning the captive dolphin industry and exploitation of dolphins for commercial use, the head of the Ministry of Forestry of Indonesia, Minister Zul Hasan, flew personally to Bali on the 13th of February to witness first hand one of the many locations in Bali and throughout Indonesia known to be holding two male dolphins, Made and Wayan, purchased illegally and held in captivity without legal permits being openly used for commercial exploitation in extremely inadequate and in many cases life-threatening conditions. In front of the international press, NGO’s, and general public, the Minister directly stated in a groundbreaking milestone and a shining ray of hope for the widespread need for strict enforcement of illegal animal trade and captivity in Indonesia, that he would personally oversee the closing of the facility, transport, and release of Made and Wayan to a facility built in 2010 specifically for the purpose of assisting the Government to properly care, rehabilitate and release the dolphins back to their natural habitat. During his visit the Minister claimed the Akame Restaurant facilities in Bali were “cruel and unacceptable”, and since the Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN) and Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project had built a fully functional rehabilitation center in Karimun Jawa ready to receive them, Made and Wayan could be transported humanely and released directly into the sea-pen where the healing process could begin.
This all in following an MOU that was signed between JAAN, Dolphin Project and the Forestry Department dating back to October 2010 to rehabilitate the widely uncovered and documented illegal captive dolphins in Indonesia, which were found and documented to be kept in centers in Java and then shipped in grossly inadequate trucks and containers around the world’s largest island archipelago, in the world’s last remaining traveling Dolphin Circus.
However, following the signing of the MOU in 2010, the rehabilitation center has remained empty and the Minister had achieved no positive progress or action up until the direct public announcement and claim of enforcement responsibility on the 13th of February 2013, in Bali. This past lack of progress in enforcement of this illegal trade is likely due to pressure from the captive dolphin industry to influence various factions of the Ministry against following through on their responsibilities for law enforcement.
A dolphin in the last traveling dolphin circus in the world jumps through a flaming hoop. Photo by Kate Tomlinson.
When the Minister finally heard about all of these problems and directly addressed the Indonesian public and media starting the first week of February 2013 at the @America Center in Jakarta, and his subsequent declaration of justice in Bali on the 13th of December, daily media articles, news, and social media flooded the airwaves. The Minister was publicly applauded by a wide audience, both nationally and internationally, for his direct and open address to the public and commitment to proper law enforcement. The news that these dolphins would be released enlightened many people, including those tourists who had reported about the poor conditions of the dolphins and were appalled that a tourism destination such as Bali would allow such cruel and blatant exploitation.
However, for ten days following this public announcement, the Akame Restaurant continued to hold its commercial dolphin shows and no subsequent action was taken. This lead to a local protest at the site on Friday 22nd February, attended by concerned citizens who alerted the media to question the lack of follow-up enforcement and to question the commitments made to immediately release the dolphins to their rightful natural habitat.
Now, all our equipment and a helicopter have been prepared for the transfer of Made and Wayan to the sea pen from Bali. Groups and experts have been mobilized, flown in from around the world, and prepared in urgency to assist the Minister with his admirable commitment to relocate these Made and Wayan to Karimun Jawa rehabilitation center, constructed by Earth Island Institute Dolphin Project’s world famous dolphin activist Ric O’Barry and JAAN.
As the team was on standby in Bali for the relocation exercise, the news that the two dolphins left Akame Restaurant clandestinely on Saturday 23rd February at approximately 17:00 came as a shock and direct breach and conflict to the commitments that had been made to date. The dolphins are now currently on a truck, to be transported inhumanely over 20 hours or more to be put in a condition even worse than that noted by the Minister as being “cruel and unacceptable”. They are understood to be headed back to the original dolphin captivity center for the traveling Circus in Weleri, Central Java. The owner of the travel show has his holding station there, and it is widely documented that this is the where Made and Wayan were originally kept and sold to unlicensed commercial exploitation facilities around the country.
This transport should not have been allowed. Further acknowledging the lack of care of these animals, it is clear no one has checked with the meteorology center of Indonesia – Made and Wyan are heading into a tropical depression with heavy rain and sustained winds up to 40 knots predicted for the next 4-5 days. It is likely that marine transportation in Indonesia crossing islands could be halted or considered extremely dangerous with small and large craft advisories in place, further jeopardizing the safety of Made and Wayan in the current makeshift transportation vehicle. The transportation of these animals overland, and across public ferries, in inadequate trucks with inadequate health and safety considerations, back to their original captive location where they were originally sold illegally, is in breach of all commitments, laws, and regulations as openly recognized by those responsible for both creating and enforcing the laws pertaining to this subject, the Ministry of Forestry as representative of the Indonesian Government.
Instead the dolphins should have been, as promised, transported by helicopter and expert team that were pre-arranged, who have been waiting voluntarily and patiently in Bali for more than 10 days, on a journey that would have taken only three hours, and would have brought the animals home, to be nursed and released to their families and their natural environment, where they so rightfully belong. The current transport violates national and international laws and regulations, by-laws, and treaties and must be stopped immediately.
JAAN and the Dolphin Project have issued an urgent call to action for the public to tweet the Forestry Minister @Zul_Hasan and ask him to stop the truck and release the dolphins as promised.
Photos by Kate Tomlinson.x
Indonesia Travel Circus Fuels Illegal Dolphin Trade
♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎(⌒▽⌒)This is right way. Natural Dolphin Watching in Bali. (⌒▽⌒)♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎
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