BanderillasIt seems hard to believe that in this so-called civilised age, a most vicious and cruel spectacle of blood continues to flourish in Spain and certain other countries. Bullfighting is barbaric and should have been banned long ago, as bear-baiting was. It is difficult to understand how crowds of people will pay money and take pleasure in watching one lone creature – who has never done them any harm — getting hacked to death. How can anyone with an ounce of compassion, cheer and chant olé as a banderilla or lance is thrust into the animal’s pain-racked body?
Bullfighting has a very glorified public image — it is presented as a contest between the brave matador, who boldly risks life and limb to tackle a mad and ferocious beast. The matador is always dressed in a traditional costume of brilliant colours: the bullfight is seen by many as the mysterious ritual between man and beast, which is an integral part of Spanish culture and custom. For this reason, many tourists who visit Spain feel that seeing a bullfight is a necessary part of their holiday, just as tourists visiting Britain go to see the Tower of London.
The bull is not an aggressive animal, and the reason he is angry and attempts to charge at the matador whilst in the bullring is mainly because he has been horrendously abused for the previous two days. In fact, what spectators see is not a normal, healthy bull, but a weakened, half-blinded and mentally destroyed version, whose chances of harming his tormentors is virtually nil. The bull has wet newspapers stuffed into his ears; vaseline is rubbed into his eyes to blur his vision; cotton is stuffed up his nostrils to cut off his respiration and a needle is stuck into his genitals. Also, a strong caustic solution is rubbed onto his legs which throws him off balance. This also keeps him from lying down on the ground. In addition to this, drugs are administered to pep him up or slow him down, and strong laxatives are added to his feed to further incapacitate him. He is kept in a dark box for a couple of days before he faces the ring: the purpose of this is to disorientate him. When he is let out of the box, he runs desperately towards the light at the end of the tunnel. He thinks that at last his suffering is over and he is being set free — instead, he runs into the bullring to face his killers and a jeering mob.
THE “FIGHT"
Strictly speaking, a bullfight is composed of 3 separate “acts”, and the whole thing is supposed to last for 20 minutes, though in actual fact it varies. The opening of a bullfight begins with a tune being played on a trumpet — the tune is the special, signa lure Rifle which characterises the beginning of the horror. Upon entering the ring, bulls have been known to collapse through exhaustion alter their pre-fight ordeal — they have been dragged to their feet by the bullfighter’s assistants.
The Picadors
The sequence of events begins when the bull faces the picadors — these are the men on horseback, whose purpose it is to exhaust the bull. They cut into his neck muscles with a pica. This is a weapon of about 6-8 inches long, and 2 inches thick. Once it is thrust into the bull it is twisted round and a large, gaping wound appears. The bull then starts bleeding to death.
The Assistant Matadors
After the picador has finished his sordid business, the assistant matadors then get to work with the banderillas (sharp, harpoon-like barbed instruments). These are plunged into the bull’s body, and he may also be taunted by capes. Up to six banderillas may be used. When the banderillas strike the bull stops in his tracks and bellows madly.
The Kill
A trumpet signals the final “act” — in fact, during the whole nightmare, strange, slow tunes are played throughout. It is, of course, during the final act that the bull is killed (and hopefully goes onto a better life). The kill should last 6 minutes, and is done by the main matador. If he has any difficulties (which is an extremely rare occurrence), the others immediately rush in to his aid and finish off the bull.
THE FINAL DEGRADATION
The matador is supposed to sever the artery near the heart with one thrust of the sword — in fact, this never happens. It often takes 2-3 times before the creature is mercifully released by death. By this time, the bull’s lungs and heart will be punctured and he always vomits blood. Miraculously, he sometimes attempts to rise again, and gets up on his knees, only to receive further mutilation at the hands of his tormentors. He finally gives up, goes to his knees and lies down. Even then, he is not allowed a little dignity to leave this world in peace, his ears and tail are cut off (often when he is fully conscious), and his broken, bleeding body is dragged around the ring by mules, to which he is attached by an apparatus made of wood and chains. Not content with his suffering, which must be too horrible to describe by words, the crowds boo and jeer him. They even throw empty beer cans at him. His body is then taken away to be skinned, and even then he may not be dead when this happens.
"And suddenly, I looked at the bull. He had this innocence that all animals have in their eyes, and he looked at me with this pleading. It was like a cry for justice, deep down inside of me. I describe it as being like a prayer — because if one confesses, it is hoped, that one is forgiven. I felt like the worst shit on earth.
This photo shows the collapse of Torrero Alvaro Munera, as he realized in the middle of his last fight ... the injustice to the animal. From that day forward he became an opponent of bullfights.
The career of eighteen-year-old Colombian torero Álvaro Múnera (known by the nickname "El Pilarico") ended when he was gored by a bull during a bullfight in 1984, with the resultant spinal cord and cranial injuries leaving him paralyzed. Múnera has since become a council member in his hometown of Medellín, a position from which he advocates for the rights of the disabled and promotes anti-bullfighting campaigns. The widely circulated photograph displayed above purports to have captured Múnera at the very moment, in the middle of a bullfight, when he came to the realization that what he was doing was an injustice to animals and decided to henceforth campaign against bullfighting. Although Múnera did undergo such a conversion, this photo doesn't depict the instant of his change of heart, for a number of reasons:
Múnera didn't undergo his epiphany against bullfighting in the middle of a bullfight; he stopped participating in that activity only when he was forced out of the ring for good after a goring permanently paralyzed him.
The posture shown in the photograph is not one of a torero collapsing or expressing contrition; rather, it's a common posture of desplante (defiance), a bit of showmanship in which the torero indicates his total domination of the bull by taking up what appears to be a dangerous position in front of the animal's horns. (Also, the quotation that accompanies the photograph was not spoken by Múnera; it is the work of Spanish writer Antonio Gala, who was not himself a torero.)
As detailed at The Last Arena blog, this photograph isn't a picture of Múnera at all, but rather a photo of some other torero.
In a 2008 interview, Múnera expressed that his conversion to an anti-bullfighting animal rights defender did not occur at any one moment in the ring, but was part of an ongoing process that began before, and extended after, the accident that ended his career:
Q: Did you ever think of quitting bullfighting before that bull confined you to a wheelchair?A: Yes, there were several critical moments. Once I killed a pregnant heifer and saw how the fetus was extracted from her womb. The scene was so terrible that I puked and started to cry. I wanted to quit right there but my manager gave me a pat on my back and said I shouldn’t worry, that I was going to be an important bullfighting figure and scenes like that were a normal thing to see in this profession. I’m sorry to say that I missed that first opportunity to stop. I was 14 and didn’t have enough common sense. Some time later, in an indoor fight, I had to stick my sword in five or six times to kill a bull. The poor animal, his entrails pouring out, still refused to die. He struggled with all his strength until the last breath. This caused a very strong impression on me, and yet again I decided it wasn’t the life for me. But my travel to Spain was already arranged, so I crossed the Atlantic. Then came the third chance, the definitive one. It was like God thought, “If this guy doesn’t want to listen to reason, he’ll have to learn the hard way.” And of course I learned. Q: What was the decisive factor that made you an animal-rights defender? A: When I went to the U.S. [for medical treatment], where I had to face an antitaurine society that cannot conceive how another society can allow the torture and murder of animals. It was my fellow students, the doctors, nurses, the other physically disabled people, my friends, my North American girlfriend, and the aunt of one of my friends, who said I deserved what happened to me. Their arguments were so solid that I had to accept that it was me who was wrong and that the 99 percent of the human race who are firmly against this sad and cruel form of entertainment were totally right. Many times the whole of the society is not to blame for the decisions of their governments. Proof of this is that most people in Spain and Colombia are genuinely anti-bullfighting. Unfortunately there’s a minority of torturers in each government supporting these savage practices.
Every year from July 7th-14th thousands pack into Pamplona to start Spain's most famous bull-running fiesta to honour Navarre capital's patron saint, San Fermin. Spain stages more than 3,000 fiestas (festivals) each year but the 7 days of bull-running are the favourite in terms of spectacle and excitement.
After the daybreak of July 7th, runners (mainly young men) gather at the bottom of Santo Domingo, which is the starting line. They crowd together and sing to the image of San Fermin which is placed in a niche on a wall. The song goes: "A San Fermín pedimos, por ser nuestro patrón, nos guíe en el encierro dándonos su bendición" ("We ask San Fermín, as our Patron, to guide us through the Bull Run and give us his blessing.")
Then, as a rocket goes off, a number of fighting bulls are let out onto the streets. A second rocket is then let off to make sure everyone knows the bulls are loose in the street. The bulls run along the narrow street 825 metres (half a mile) to a bull ring. The runners dash along in front of the bulls, aiming to feel the breath of the bull on their backs, getting as close as possible - all whilst trying to avoid getting gored by their sharp horns.
The supposed way to do this is to start off slowly when the bulls are quite a distance behind. Then as they get nearer start running like hell! You can then go near them for a short time, as near as you are prepared to risk it, and then quickly get out of the way. Runners look for a gap in the fence to slip through or jump over, or a space against the wall of the street.
When the bulls finally reach the end of the street, they go into pens and are kept until later that day they are killed in a bullfight.
The tradition is said to have come from practicality when, in 1591 residents merely had to herd the bulls to the bull-fighting arena. At first only the drovers were used to lead the bulls. But it seems that at some date, the butchers guild, who had the responsibility of buying the bulls, began to join in with the drovers and began to chase behind the bulls and heifers up to the bull-ring from Santo Domingo street - the starting point of the run.
As time passed the event became more and more popular and some people began to run in front of the bulls and not behind them, as the drovers do. In 1852, a new bull-ring was built and a new route - becoming much shorter also, because as from 1899, it was decided to bring the bulls up to a small corral in Santo Domingo street the night before they fight in the ring.
Originally only a few daring souls ran with the bulls but the adrenaline rush of running in front of a 1500lb bull has since caught on. People now journey from all around the world to run with the bulls.
Other cities in Spain also have bull running festivals if you can´t make San Fermin or don´t like crowds. Aravaca-Pozuelo, a suburb of Madrid, for example, has a bull running festival in late summer.
Today, all over Spain there are hundreds of bull and cow ‘torture’ fiestas where animals are brutally attacked by violent crowds. Thousands of animals are tortured to death each year, and hundreds of horses involved in the fiestas are also gored to death in the process.
During one recent fiesta, a pregnant cow actually gave birth to its calf while being stabbed during the festival.
In Algemesi, a hundred baby bulls are dragged away from their mothers to be tortured by groups of young men. In Villalpando Zamora, three bulls are let out in the field and participants come with quads, motorcycles, tractors with trailers, on horseback or on foot, and vehicles just drive over the exhausted bulls for the fun of the crowd.
In many villages, bulls are tied up and their horns set on fire, burning the bulls’ faces and rendering them blind. These bulls run into walls and stumble over things just to entertain people. After hours of torture, the bulls all die and their bodies are cut apart and distributed amongst the participants. Sometimes the bulls are burned alive. At others, bulls are tortured until they jump in the water to escape, some of whom drown. In Peñalsordo, Extremadura, Spain, six young cows are tortured to death, four in the makeshift plaza and two released to be tormented in the streets, all witnessed by children. To soften up bulls before bull fights and festivals, they often have substances rubbed into their eyes to blur their vision, cotton balls inserted in their nose to weaken their respiration, and a needle stuck into their genitals.
These fiestas are defended, and actively promoted, by the Spanish government as being part of their cultural heritage. As a lawyer involved with the media, I know many experts say that people who enjoy inflicting such savage violence onto animals, or even watching it, are a potential danger to other people, especially children, something tourists are entitled to know about.
Understandably such cruelty is causing outrage among millions of people all over the world, as the publicity of these shocking events spreads in the media and internet.
Many have said they would expect a travel company to forewarn them of such events and if they accidentally stumbled across such an event without having been warned they would take some sort of action against the travel company. They have also said they would be alarmed at the risk of coming across such people while on holiday.
Millions of people all over the world care deeply about animal welfare, and as publicity of animal abuse grows hugely, increasing numbers are saying they would favour and publicise travel companies who advised people about animal abuse issues as it is so important to them. Powerful animal charities should also publicise travel companies who promote, and do not promote, animal welfare.
Make the right choice – for those that say it’s entertainment, that really is a load of bull.
Trophy hunting is the selective hunting of wild game for human recreation. The trophy is the animal or part of the animal kept, and usually displayed, to represent the success of the hunt. The primary game sought is usually the oldest and most mature animal from a given population.
Every year, trophy hunters kill thousands of exotic wild animals, representing hundreds of different species, in foreign countries, primarily in Africa. They prefer to kill the most beautiful, the biggest and the rarest.
Wealthy trophy hunters pay big bucks to local cash-stripped governments for permits that grant them a choice of which animal to kill—Donald Trump’s two sons just killed several wild animals, including a giraffe and an elephant in Zimbabwe. The list of “huntable” species is usually very long and includes more common species such as impala, black bears, common zebra, giraffes, and baboons, but also endangered species such as elephants, leopards and white rhinos (the Western African black rhino was recently officially declared to be “extinct”).
There is also no regard for species protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) such as the African elephant or leopards. In fact, the more rare the animal, the more thrill to kill for the “big game” hunters, and the higher the price for the permit.
Competition and Bragging rights Trophy hunters do not care about conservation, the struggle for survival of many animals. What they care about is killing the biggest and the best, and bringing home full trophy mounts or body parts. Heads, horns, tusks, and other body parts of most of these animals are legally, and sometimes illegally, imported as trophies to the United States by the hunters.
Trophy hunting hurts conservation The mantra of trophy hunters is that their killing “benefits conservation”, but not only are individual animals brutally sacrificed, trophy hunting poses a significant threat to the very survival of African lions. Similarly, considering that African elephants are already endangered— by some estimates facing extinction in 50 years—it is ludicrous to argue that trophy hunting benefits elephants.
The ESA allows importation of endangered species only for scientific research, enhancement of propagation, or survival of the species. However, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which implements the ESA, has broadly interpreted the term “enhancement” to include trophy hunting of protected species, and trophy hunters often take advantage of the loopholes to find ways to take “their trophies” across the U.S. border, under the guise of scientific research and other permits for exemption.
In 1997, Kenneth Behring, millionaire, trophy hunter and former president of the Safari Club International (SCI), paid the government of Kazakhstan to allow him to shoot an endangered Kara Tau argali sheep, of which only 100 individuals were left. He then donated $100 million to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and solicited the help of the museum for an import permit. A public outcry ensured and USFWS withdrew the permit. This is not an isolated case and the reality is that many museums have been involved in facilitating the killing and import of endangered species by trophy hunters in the past.
The Safari Club International (SCI) Trophy hunting is an elitist hobby for those excited to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a safari with the goal of killing a beautiful, large or rare exotic animal. Many trophy hunters are members of powerful and wealthy organizations such as the Safari Club International (SCI), which promotes competitive trophy hunting throughout the world, even of rare and sensitive species, including in cowardly “canned hunts”, through an elaborate awards program.
Killing contests SCI members kill particular species of animals to win so-called ‘Grand Slam’ and ‘Inner Circle’ titles. The list of macabre ‘contests’ include the Africa Big Five, (leopard, elephant, lion, rhino, and buffalo); the North American Twenty Nine (all species of bear, bison, sheep, moose, caribou, and deer); and the Antlered Game of the Americas, among many other contests. SCI members take short cuts in their hurry to beat competitors by killing captive and defenseless animals in canned hunts, both in the United States and in other countries. Corruption and unethical behavior is rampant in this bloodthirsty competition. “Hunters” lure animals to their guns with bait, shoot them from helicopters or vehicles with spotlights, or in or near national parks. There are 29 awards in all, and in order to win all of them, at the highest level, a hunter would have to kill 322 animals of different species or subspecies.
The “Holy Grail” for SCI members The “Holy Grail” for SCI members is the club’s record book, a three-volume compendium of thousands of pages listing names of who killed what animal, where and when. The list spans more than 1,100 species, some of which have since become extinct. Meticulous scores and rankings are recorded for the biggest tusks, horns, antlers, skulls and bodies, with photographs of grinning men and women posing with their high powered rifles or archery gear next to dead animals, often holding the animals heads up to display their “prize”.
SCI contributes large sums to mostly Republican candidates, and supports those who are eager to help further the club’s shameful agenda to weaken and to circumvent the intent of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and to legally import once-banned trophies of endangered and threatened wildlife.
Examples of the SCI’s efforts to derail wildlife protection include fighting a current petition to protect the African lion under the ESA. Along with the National Rifle Association (NRA), SCI intervened with a law that directed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the Northern Rocky Mountain wolves from the endangered species list. In 2007, SCI testified at a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service hearing opposing the proposed listing of polar bears as a “threatened” species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
The SCI continues to create and feed a culture glamorizing death and violence globally, across political lines, international borders, and against wildlife and even people. Fortunes are made on the back of millions of animals whose lives are taken by trophy hunters for the sake of killing in an endless spiral of competition.
And while most empathic people prefer to simply watch these magnificent animals, already struggling to survive in human-dominated landscapes, trophy hunters fulfill their lust to kill the largest animals and the most exotic animals to rack up SCI awards. Underlying these actions are futile efforts to transcend weak character, arrested emotional development, narcissism, sexual perversion, anger and finally, a misguided attempt to overcome their own disconnect to nature.
Michele Leqve has been bow hunting since the fall of 1996, and in that time, she has taken many, big game animals and has 10 different species! As of February 2015 she has taken 61 big game animals! She has 19 Pope & Young Class animals. She started bow hunting in the fall of 1996, when she met her husband Jim in 1995 and quickly found out that he was a bow hunter only, so she put down her gun and quickly followed in his foot steps. She and her husband Jim travel all over the United States, Canada, Mexico, and South Africa pursuing the animals they love to hunt.
Japan’s Emperor and his royal family are still very much revered in Japan. However, it is a surprise to hear one speak out on an issue publicly, and now Japan’s Prince Akishino has stated his support for the Japan Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) ending the buying of dolphins from Taiji’s bloody dolphin hunts.
Prince Akishino is the second son of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, and so second in line for the Japanese Chrysanthemum Throne. Prince Akishino studied law and biology in Gakushuin University, and went on to specialize in fish biology at Oxford University, but received his PhD in ornithology. According to Wikipedia, he introduced the fish tilapia to Thailand for aquaculture. Along with many other honors, he is President of JAZA.
According to Kyodo News: “On the first day of the meeting, Prince Akishino, who serves as president of the association, expressed concern over expected hardships for aquariums with dolphins, but he also said JAZA's decision is likely to generate positive consequences in the future.” Reportedly, participants were taken aback by Prince Akishino’s outspokenness on the issue.
According to the story, JAZA held a two-day annual meeting in Osaka. Despite rumors beforehand, none of JAZA’s member aquariums quit the organization over the decision at the meeting, although several have expressed concern that they will have trouble getting more dolphins for their aquariums as their current animals die off.
JAZA was suspended in April by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) over its continued flaunting of WAZA’s code of ethics, which opposed buying dolphins from Taiji caught in the cruel drive hunts. WAZA’s decision to take action came after many organizations and thousands of individuals have urged WAZA to dump JAZA. In 2004, Earth Island Institute’s Save Japan Dolphins Campaign and the Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan revealed the role of aquariums in buying live Taiji dolphins at high prices, an order of magnitude more than a dolphin could be sold for meat, resulting in a huge subsidy of the dolphin hunters by the captivity industry. JAZA held a vote last week, with a majority agreeing to end buying dolphins from Taiji and remain members in good standing with WAZA.
Prince Akishino’s support for JAZA’s decision is the most important support we have yet seen in Japan for the dolphins. Perhaps he and the royal family are getting fed up with the Japan Fisheries Agency making the country a global pariah over whale and dolphin policies? He and the royal family can help Japan move away from the dolphin and whale slaughter and towards a more scientific and supportive function for Japan in the global community around marine mammals.
Taiji dolphin fishermen vow to continue slaughter
Matsumoto (left) and Yoshifumi Kai speak to the media during a news conference on Wednesday in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, about their plan to continue dolphin hunting. | KYODO
Fishermen in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, vowed Wednesday to continue their dolphin hunt, despite a pledge by zoos and aquariums not to buy animals caught with the controversial method.
“We will never stop it,” Yoshifumi Kai of the local fisheries cooperative told reporters.
The news conference came a week after Japan’s zoos and aquariums voted to stop using dolphins caught by the so-called “drive hunt” method, as demanded by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).
Some dolphins are captured alive and sold to aquariums, fetching about ¥1 million ($8,300) each.
The vote was prompted by WAZA’s move to suspend the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) last month over the issue.
WAZA regards drive hunt fishing — where pods of cetaceans are herded into a bay by a wall of sound before being butchered — as “cruel”, a charge local fishermen reject.
“It’s unclear which part of the drive hunt WAZA considers cruel,” Kai said.
“We used to harpoon dolphins but that’s several decades ago. Now we sever the spinal cord in a moment and there is not much blood.”
Shuichi Matsumoto, head of another local fisherman’s group, said they “have not broken any rules,” adding the group wants to continue the tradition and pass it on to future generations.
Taiji came to worldwide attention after the Oscar-winning 2009 documentary “The Cove” showed pods of the animals forced into a bay and slaughtered with knives, in a mass killing that turned the water red with blood.
Animal rights activists continue to protest in the town, despite hostility from locals who say they are victims of anti-Japanese bias.
Many of the dolphins are butchered for food, but campaigners claim there is insufficient demand for their relatively unpopular meat to make the hunt economically worthwhile.
They charge that the high prices live animals fetch when sold to aquariums and dolphin shows is the only thing that sustains the hunt.
Despite the overwhelming vote last week by JAZA to abandon the Taiji hunt, five aquariums are reportedly considering leaving the organization so they can continue to source dolphins from the town.
However, the vote has left aquariums with the problem of how to continue to stock their facilities — only 12 to 13 percent of dolphins at Japanese aquariums are captive-bred, compared with 70 percent in the United States, according to JAZA.
The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) was pleased to be informed today by the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) that the organization formally announced their decision to officially ban all members from acquiring dolphins from the Taiji dolphin drive fisheries.
Gland, Switzerland - 20 May 2015 - The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) was pleased to be informed today by the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) that the organization formally announced their decision to officially ban all members from acquiring dolphins from the Taiji dolphin drive fisheries.
The decision was made one day before the end of the 30-day grace period after the suspension in accordance with WAZA bylaws. WAZA Council voted unanimously to impose the suspension in Gland Switzerland on 22nd April "2015, based on a determination that JAZA was in violation of WAZA's code of ethics and animal welfare. JAZA board members then discussed the recent WAZA suspension of JAZA in Tokyo at an emergency session.
"The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums praises JAZA's decision to prohibit members from acquiring dolphins from Taiji," said Gerald Dick, WAZA Executive Director. "Today's actions reaffirm WAZA's well-considered approach of working collaboratively with international partners to improve the wellbeing and conservation of global wildlife."
WAZA has been engaged in dialogue with JAZA to stop the collection of animals from the Taiji drive fisheries for more than ten years. The drives have drawn international attention and criticism for the killing and capture of dolphins and WAZA has previously joined other organizations in speaking out against the practice. As part of the WAZA decision last month, Council also re-affirmed its position that members of WAZA must confirm that they will not acquire dolphins from the Taiji fishery.
WAZA considers JAZA's decision to be a welcome break-through and looks forward to receiving further details from JAZA in order to fully appreciate the implications of today's decision.
To view the full PDF of the letter sent to WAZA from JAZA: CLICK HERE
Background
The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) is a global organisation that strives to harmonise the principles, policies, practices and strategy for zoos and aquariums worldwide. Via member regional associations WAZA reaches over 1,300 leading Zoos and Aquariums. WAZA is the unifying representative of the global zoos and aquarium community and works in partnership with international conservation organisations such as IUCN and other non-government organisations to advocate for high standards of animal welfare and to achieve conservation in Zoos and Aquariums and in nature www.waza.org
WAZA Facts and Figures
Attracting more than 700 million visitors a year, the world zoo and aquarium community has the unique potential to attract, inspire and mobilise public engagement for species and habitat conservation. The Biodiversity is Uscampaign allows visitors to make a direct connection between people and wildlife. Zoos and aquariums educate the public on biodiversity conservation, and hence promote environmentally sustainable development and social and political change. Some of the revenue produced by the zoos and aquariums is dedicated to field conservation projects around the world. Collectively, the amount contributed to these efforts by zoos and aquariums matches or surpasses the contributions of other leading global conservation organisations.
With 70% of the world's population living in cities by 2030, zoos and aquariums offer a vital connection to the importance of biodiversity in our lives
Contact:
Hyatt Antognini Amin, Communications Executive for WAZA
Taiji town mayor Sangen said that He will protect the dolphin hunt which fishermen have legal rights. The town will not be shaken by the decision.
Taiji Whale Museum needs to consider withdrawal or expulsion from JAZA said the Director of Taiji Whale Museum. He also said that he will keep telling JAZA about local effort until the dolphin hunt season starts in September.
8 hours ago, the news broke in Japan that JAZA agreed not to take Dolphins from the hunt
This Sept. 16, 2014, file photo shows drive fishing off Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture. (Mainichi
JAZA reached the decision as majority of its members -- consisting of 89 zoos and 63 aquariums -- voted to remain part of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. But its chairman Kazutoshi Arai noted that the outcome did not mean the Japanese organization "rejects drive hunts, which have been promoted by the government."
"We do not think it is cruel to take wild dolphins...but as we have reached this kind of conclusion in relation to WAZA, we need to steer (our policy) toward breeding," Arai told a press conference in Tokyo, admitting that being a member of the global body is especially important for domestic zoos to acquire animals through its network.
If expelled, zoos and aquariums in Japan would have faced difficulty in seeking overseas cooperation for breeding rare animals and other issues.
But remaining in the global body and halting the acceptance of Taiji dolphins is also an issue of vital importance for smaller aquariums that cannot breed dolphins on their own.
Dolphins bred in captivity represent only around 12 or 13 percent of those in Japanese zoos and aquariums, compared with about 70 percent in the United States, according to Arai.
With the life span of dolphins around 30 years, some aquariums could eventually face difficulty operating as they may not be able to find an alternative source of dolphins for their shows. A total of 34 JAZA member facilities rear dolphins, of which at least more than half rely on Taiji as a supplier.
Arai said he estimates it could take roughly "five years or more" to establish breeding skills in the country.
In the vote, in which 142 votes were valid, a total of 99 JAZA members supported remaining in the world body against 43 that voted to leave.
The world association, with a membership comprising over 50 countries and territories, requires all members to "adhere to policies that prohibit participating in cruel and non-selective methods of taking animals from the wild."
Following years of negotiations over the dolphin acquisition issue, the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums suspended JAZA's membership last month, citing violation of the global body's "Code of Ethics and Animal Welfare." It also said the Japanese body would be expelled unless the situation is improved by Thursday.
Arai said JAZA will ask the global body to restore its membership now that it has announced that it will "prohibit its members to acquire wild dolphins caught by drive fishing in Taiji and to take part in their export and sale."
In drive hunting, fishermen capture dolphins by herding them into coves as they bang metal poles against their fishing boats. The practice, however, has spurred international controversy, especially after the Oscar-winning 2009 U.S. documentary film "The Cove" showed the actual slaughter of dolphins during a drive hunt.
Taiji officials have said the method employed has changed since the film was released so as not to cause excessive suffering to dolphins. Local fishermen have also taken steps to address the situation, such as by separately capturing dolphins for edible use and those for aquarium use so that the latter will be caught without being hurt.
But concerns have remained. In January last year, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy said on Twitter that she was "deeply concerned by inhumaneness of drive hunt dolphin killing" and that the U.S. government opposes such activities.
Taiji Mayor Kazutaka Sangen on Wednesday criticized the global association's labeling of the drive hunt as contravening ethics, saying it has "no clear scientific grounds."
"It is extremely deplorable that the international organization notified the Japanese association about the expulsion. We will continue to preserve our traditional fishery activities by cooperating with related organizations," he said in a statement.
May 20, 2015(Mainichi Japan)
Japanese Aquariums' Link to the Dolphin Slaughter at Taiji
A survey shows that half the dolphins in Japanese facilities are taken from the annual hunts at the cove.
May 19, 2015 By David Kirby
David Kirby has been a professional journalist for 25 years. His third book, Death at Seaworld, was published in 2012.
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Nearly half of the dolphins in Japanese aquariums may have been taken from the dolphin hunts in Taiji, according to a survey in The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, which reported that a lack of breeding facilities is fueling demand for the mammals.
The newspaper surveyed 33 of the 54 Japanese aquariums that keep dolphins and found that 18 of them bought animals from the Taiji drives. Eight aquariums refused to respond.
“The 33 aquariums keep at least 352 dolphins, of which 158 were captured through drive fishery,” The Yomiuri Shimbun reported. “Some aquariums said all the dolphins they keep are from drive fishery.”
An additional 68 dolphins were captured after being snagged “in a fixed net by accident,” according to the newspaper, while only 42 were bred at aquariums. The article did not specify how the remaining dolphins were acquired.
Critics of the drives say the aquariums are sustaining the Taiji hunt, where entire pods are forced into a small cove and then slaughtered, released, or captured and sold to aquariums in Japan and around the world.
But is captive breeding the best way to reduce demand for live dolphins?
The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums has long demanded that the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums put an end to buying live-caught dolphins, and last month it suspended JAZA’s membership for refusing to do so.
Even zoos belonging to JAZA have criticized the country’s aquariums and said that captive breeding is the way to end the drives.
“Zoos stopped obtaining and exhibiting wild animals some time ago,” one unidentified zoo director told The Yomiuri Shimbun. “We’ve made efforts to breed animals. I think the time has come for aquariums to also change their way of thinking.”
But Ric O’Barry, director of Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project and star of the Oscar-winning documentary on Taiji, The Cove, said captive breeding “is not the solution.”
“One can clearly see that dolphins and other whales suffer and die in captivity,” O’Barry said in an email. “It does not matter if the dolphin was captured from the wild or born in captivity. They suffer equally. The captive dolphins die from the same stress-related diseases whether they were born in captivity or captured from the wild.”
Even if Japanese aquariums wanted to breed dolphins, most of them lack the space for a breeding pool, where mothers can nurse their calves.
As Naomi Rose, marine mammal scientist at the Animal Welfare Institute, pointed out, if aquariums are too small for breeding, they are, by the industry's own standards, too small for dolphins.
Japan Dolphin Hunt Dealt Big Blow
“Rather than recognize that there must be a problem with their facilities, they simply think they should be allowed to continue to source from the drives because otherwise they couldn’t have dolphins,” Rose, who opposes captive breeding, said in an email.
Courtney Vail, program and campaigns manager at Whale and Dolphin Conservation, said changing the way Japanese aquariums operate would be difficult.
“Unless standards improve in Japan, breeding success will be limited,” Vail said in an email. “Anything that removes the incentive for the hunts to continue is a step in the right direction. Of course, we have to be concerned that captures will occur elsewhere around Japan through other methods. Any capture operation is inhumane.”
The Yomiuri ShimbunAt least 18 aquariums nationwide have obtained dolphins captured through drive fishery, a practice that led the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) to suspend the membership of a Japanese industry association last month, a Yomiuri Shimbun survey has found.
The survey indicated that many aquariums in the nation rely on drive fishery, as 33 aquariums keep dolphins nationwide.
Drive fishery involves banging on metal poles in fishing boats and herding sound-sensitive dolphins into coves. WAZA forbids capturing wild animals through brutal means, and concluded that keeping and exhibiting dolphins taken through drive fishery in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, violates its code of ethics.
WAZA therefore suspended on April 21 the membership of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA), which comprises 89 zoos and 63 aquariums. If WAZA believes there is no sign of improvement in the situation, it will expel JAZA from the organization as early as Friday.
SLIDE 1 OF 1The Yomiuri Shimbun
Many JAZA officials are concerned about the possible effects of expulsion, as many of them obtain rare animals from foreign countries through their membership in the association. If JAZA decides to take action to avoid expulsion, it is highly likely the nation’s aquariums will no longer be able to obtain dolphins captured through drive fishery.
The Yomiuri Shimbun surveyed JAZA member aquariums about the number of dolphins they keep and how they acquired them.
Of 33 aquariums that keep dolphins, 18 said they purchased dolphins from drive fishery, according to the survey. Eight aquariums refused to answer the question, citing such reasons as “we could be negatively affected if we answer that question.”
The 33 aquariums keep at least 352 dolphins, of which 158 were captured through drive fishery. Some aquariums said all the dolphins they keep are from drive fishery.
Sixty-eight dolphins were captured after they were caught in a fixed net by accident, and 42 were bred at aquariums, according to the survey.
When asked about the pros and cons of breeding and exhibiting dolphins captured through drive fishery, many surveyed aquariums appeared to choose their words carefully before answering. “We can’t easily draw a conclusion about this matter, which could lead to political problems, just like the whaling issue,” said a director at an aquarium in western Japan.
Meanwhile, an official at an aquarium in the Tohoku region insisted on the validity of the fishery method.
“Drive fishery is Japanese culture that has been going on since the olden days. It is the right way, approved by the government,” the official said.
Many facilities avoided making a definite statement over whether they would continue to exhibit dolphins if they became unable to purchase animals obtained through drive fishery.
JAZA is now holding a vote among its member facilities on whether to keep its WAZA membership. Voting will close Tuesday, and JAZA will make its decision, based on the results, at a board meeting Wednesday.
Zoos urge breeding
Numerous zoos in JAZA have called for aquariums to obtain dolphins without depending on drive fishery.
A zoo director in the Chubu region said: “Zoos stopped obtaining and exhibiting wild animals some time ago. We’ve made efforts to breed animals. I think the time has come for aquariums to also change their way of thinking.”
Another zoo director said: “Beyond exhibiting living creatures, zoos and aquariums are also expected to work to conserve species through breeding.”
An official at a Chubu aquarium that does not keep dolphins said the fundamental nature of aquariums has been thrown into question. “I wonder whether it’s OK for aquariums to just be ‘show tents’ featuring a dolphin show,” the official said.
Overseas aquariums in WAZA breed dolphins by themselves, in principle.
However, this is difficult financially for small and midsized aquariums in Japan, as special facilities are needed for breeding. One aquarium official said they had tried breeding eight times in the past 30 years but succeeded only once.
An aquarium director in the Tohoku region said: “It’s important to think about new ways of breeding, such as having dolphins breed at large aquariums equipped with facilities and providing newborn dolphins to small aquariums nearby.” Speech
WAZA Council votes to suspend Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA)
Following years of negotiations over animal acquisition policies, WAZA Council voted unanimously this week to suspend membership of JAZA.
The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) Council voted unanimously this week to suspend the membership of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA). The decision comes after WAZA and JAZA could not reach agreement on issues involving JAZA member zoos and aquariums taking dolphins from the Japanese drive fishery.
WAZA requires all members to adhere to policies that prohibit participating in cruel and non-selective methods of taking animals from the wild.
For a number of years, WAZA has attempted to work collaboratively with JAZA and its members to stop the collection of animals from the Taiji drives fisheries. Annually the drives draw international attention and criticism for the killing of dolphins and WAZA has previously joined other organizations in speaking out against the practice.
WAZA made ongoing attempts to negotiate the issues including during a meeting in Tokyo last year when WAZA proposed that JAZA enforce a two-year moratorium on taking animals from the drive by its members. The moratorium was rejected by JAZA. The issue was discussed again at WAZA's international conference in November with a goal to influence change in JAZA's position on members accepting animals from the drive fisheries. JAZA responded by proposing some guideline changes that would put restrictions on the method of capturing dolphins and improving animal care, but because it did not restrict taking animals from the drive, WAZA Council concluded that a satisfactory agreement could not be reached and voted to suspend the Japanese association’s membership.
The basis for the suspension is a determination that JAZA has violated the WAZA Code of Ethics and Animal Welfare. Moreover, WAZA Council re-affirmed its position that members of WAZA must confirm that they will not acquire dolphins from the Taiji fishery.
WAZA’s mission is to serve as the voice of a worldwide community of zoos and aquariums and a catalyst for their joint conservation action. One of the ways WAZA accomplishes this mission is through promoting cooperation between national and regional associations. It is important to note that WAZA still remains committed to continuing discussions with JAZA and its members in an effort to end the loss of animal life through the drive fisheries.
The world’s top zoo association suspends Japan for not stopping the Taiji dolphin slaughter.
Fishermen in wetsuits hunt dolphins at a cove in Taiji, Japan. (Photo: Adrian Mylne/Reuters)
April 23, 2015 By David Kirby
David Kirby has been a professional journalist for 25 years. His third book, Death at Seaworld, was published in 2012.
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The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums Council this week suspended the membership of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums because the organization has refused to stop the annual killing of dolphins at the cove in Taiji, Japan.
For years, animal rights activists have pressured WAZA to sanction Japanese zoos and aquariums because the Taiji hunt not only kills hundreds of dolphins each year but also fuels the captive dolphin industry. The animals captured at the cove are often sold at a premium to aquariums around the world.
“WAZA requires all members to adhere to policies that prohibit participating in cruel and non-selective methods of taking animals from the wild,” WAZA said in statement. “JAZA has violated the WAZA Code of Ethics and Animal Welfare. “
Since 2000, the annual hunt, which runs from September through mid-April, has caused the deaths of roughly 18,000 dolphins. Most are butchered on-site for food, despite the high mercury concentrations found dolphin meat. The youngest and cutest are spared death but sold to marine-mammal facilities in Russia, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean, and East Asia. These dolphins can fetch upwards of $125,000 each.
Although WAZA has officially condemned the Taiji dolphin hunts for years, until now it had declined to take direct action against the Japanese group.
WAZA officials said there have been ongoing attempts to resolve the issue, including a proposal put to JAZA in 2014 that it enforce a two-year moratorium on taking Taiji dolphins. JAZA, however, rejected the idea.
The announcement took many animal-rights activists by surprise.
“We congratulate and applaud WAZA Council for doing the right thing,” Ric O’Barry, star of the documentary The Cove and head of Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project, said in a statement. “Their credibility with their peers has been destroyed. This is a big win for all wild dolphins swimming past the shores of Taiji.”
“Now that JAZA has been suspended and isolated from their own industry, they will be reduced to renegades if they continue to traffic in dolphins,” O’Barry said in an email.
Ric O'Barry leads a protest at the WAZA headquarters in Switzerland, demanding the group suspend JAZA for allowing the dolphin drive to continue.
The Dolphin Project was the first to demand that WAZA enforce its own code of ethics, O’Barry said. Last year, he and Sakae Hemmi, of the Japanese conservation group Elsa Nature Conservancy, met with Gerald Dick, WAZA’s executive director, about suspending JAZA’s membership status. Those talks ended in a stalemate.
The Taiji dolphin slaughter has received global condemnation over the years, including from the Caroline Kennedy, the United States ambassador to Japan. In January 2014, Kennedy tweeted, “Deeply concerned by inhumaneness of drive hunt dolphin killing. USG [U.S. government] opposes drive hunt fisheries.”
The Unseen Slaughter Under the Sea
Despite JAZA’s suspension, it was not immediately clear whether the Japanese group will take action to end the Taiji dolphin drives and cut off the supply of live animals to aquariums, many of them in Japan.
But that certainly remains a possibility.
“It is important to note that WAZA still remains committed to continuing discussions with JAZA and its members,” WAZA said, “in an effort to end the loss of animal life through the drive fisheries.”
World Association of Zoos and Aquariums takes action against Japanese member representing aquariums that take dolphins from Taiji hunt
The world’s leading zoo organisation has suspended its Japanese member over its involvement in the controversial dolphin hunts in Taiji.
The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (Waza) has suspended the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (Jaza) following a unanimous vote by its council.
As revealed by the Guardian last month, Waza has been targeted in a court action launched by conservationists who accuse it of effectively approving the dolphin hunts, where animals are forced into shallow waters and some slaughtered or picked for public display in aquariums.
The Taiji dolphin hunts gained notoriety through the documentary The Cove. Jaza, which represents Japanese aquariums that have taken dolphins from the hunt, rejected a Waza proposal for a two-year moratorium on the practice.
“Jaza responded by proposing some guideline changes that would put restrictions on the method of capturing dolphins and improving animal care, but because it did not restrict taking animals from the drive, Waza council concluded that a satisfactory agreement could not be reached and voted to suspend the Japanese association’s membership,” Waza said in a statement.
“The basis for the suspension is a determination that Jaza has violated the Waza code of ethics and animal welfare. Moreover, Waza council reaffirmed its position that members of Waza must confirm that they will not acquire dolphins from the Taiji fishery.”
Over the past five years, observers say, more than 5,000 dolphins have been killed at Taiji, with a further 750 captured for aquariums. Since a August 2014 agreement that put in place a one-month moratorium on the killings, 751 dolphins have been killed, with 41 bottlenose dolphins captured.
The suspension has been welcomed by conservationists, who claim Jaza has been acting as a rogue member while Waza stood on the sidelines despite publicly opposing dolphin hunts. Waza has also come under pressure from several of its zoo members over the issue.
Australia for Dolphins has lodged court action in Geneva, where Waza has its headquarters, in an attempt to force the organisation to sanction members in Japan and Korea accused of taking dolphins from the drive hunt.
“This is a very promising step and an acknowledgement that Waza needs to enforce its own code of ethics,” said Sarah Lucas, chief executive of Australia for Dolphins.
“Jaza are suspended rather than expelled but the threat of expulsion will be looming over them and they will know the world’s leading zoos body will be watching them closely if they don’t improve.”
“We want Waza to enforce that code of ethics across the board so we’ll be continuing the legal action. We also want Waza to take action against zoos that are abusing animals, such as chaining and beating elephants. The reputation of Waza has been hurt by this and I hope this is a start of a new era for them.”
Waza has more than 20 associate members, including Jaza and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, as well as 300 individual zoo members, including London Zoo, the Zoological Society of San Diego, Toronto Zoo, Bronx Zoo and Melbourne Zoo.
A spokeswoman for Melbourne Zoo said the organisation condemned the Taiji dolphin hunts.
“Those bodies that are in some way linked to the slaughter, either as customers for the meat, or for the live animals themselves, are complicit in the slaughter,” she said.
“We welcome the suspension of Jaza from the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. We acknowledge the efforts of the Waza council in trying to convince Jaza to stop their involvement in Taiji. We also call on Jaza members to cease any involvement in the Taiji hunt.”
Marine conservation activists Sea Shepherd also welcomed the suspension of Jaza for its “role in Taiji’s horrific massacre of wild cetaceans”.
A statement on Sea Shepherd’s website said: “While we are elated to hear this long-overdue announcement, we also stand in firm opposition to the confinement of highly intelligent and socially complex whales and dolphins in captivity at Waza aquariums, swim-with-dolphin programs and other captive facilities that continue to drive the demand for captive dolphins, and the wild captures still occurring around the world.
“These highly intelligent, sentient and socially complex marine mammals belong in the open ocean where they can engage in their natural behaviours and live in their natural family groups – not performing tricks for food in concrete bathtubs while being subjected to loud music and noisy crowds.”
YES! World Zoo Association Ends Japan’s Membership
A few short weeks ago Japan’s aspirations to re-commence “scientific” whaling in the Southern Ocean suffered a setback. The IWC rejected its proposal, claiming there was inadequate justification for lethal research.
Now the nation has suffered another major international embarrassment. It has been thrown out of the world’s leading zoo association over its connection to dolphin hunting.
As a result of legal action initiated last month by animal welfare charity Australia for Dolphins, the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) has suspended its Japanese member (JAZA) for allowing aquariums to purchase dolphins from the Taiji dolphin hunts.
The Power of Activism to Help Dolphins
Advocates are heralding this latest win as the beginning of the end for dolphin hunting in Japan.
According to the CEO of Australia for Dolphins, Sarah Lucas, “The suspension of JAZA following AFD’s legal action is great news. It is a significant first step towards ending the horrific annual dolphin hunts in Taiji.
“Up to 40 percent of total demand for Taiji dolphins comes from WAZA network aquariums. This is a major blow to the world’s largest dolphin trade, and another nail in the coffin for the Taiji hunts,” according to a press release issued by WAZA, the decision to suspend JAZA was the result of a unanimous vote. “The basis for the suspension is a determination that JAZA has violated the WAZA Code of Ethics and Animal Welfare.The decision comes after WAZA and JAZA could not reach agreement on issues involving JAZA member zoos and aquariums taking dolphins from the Japanese drive fishery. WAZA requires all members to adhere to policies that prohibit participating in cruel and non-selective methods of taking animals from the wild.”
And cruel is definitely an apt word to describe what goes on in Taiji, where scores of dolphins are brutally stabbed to death using metal rods every year. In the last 70 years, it is estimated that over a million dolphins and small whales have been killed in direct hunts in Japan – while hundreds more have been captured and shipped all around the world for display.
Australia for Dolphins insists that in spite of this win, legal action against WAZA will continue to go ahead as planned. The first hearing is due to take place next month.
Hope for Other Animals
“This is only the first step,” states Lucas. “WAZA needs to do more. It still has members in Korea that source dolphins from the Taiji drive hunts. Not to mention other members around the world that engage in terrible acts of animal cruelty, such as chaining and beating elephants.”
The above allegations are reflective of a steady stream of photos and videos showing shocking neglect and abuse at WAZA member zoos, which has emerged following legal action against the organization.
The footage includes a baby elephant being beaten with a stick in India, dolphins performing tricks in a filthy green pool in Indonesia, and a terrified baby bear being placed in a lion’s cage in South Korea as part of a televised stunt.
“We’re asking WAZA to enforce it’s own Code of Ethics and Animal Welfare across the board,” states Lucas, “which would benefit thousands of animals suffering from cruelty and neglect all around the world.”
At the moment, JAZA is only suspended. It will need to clean up its act and stop members purchasing Taiji dolphins if it wants to avoid expulsion, along with global condemnation.
April 22, 2015 by Mark Palmer, Save Japan Dolphins
By Mark J. Palmer
Associate Director
International Marine Mammal Project
Earth Island Institute
The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) announced today that they have expelled the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums due to JAZA's insistence on sourcing dolphins for their aquariums from the horrific drive hunts in Taiji, as depicted in the hit documentary The Cove.
Earth Island’s Save Japan Dolphins Campaign and many other organizations have been pushing WAZA for years to enforce its so-called Code of Ethics and Animal Welfare. Recently, our colleagues with Australia for Dolphins filed a lawsuit in Switzerland against WAZA for falsely claiming it opposed the practice when its associate member JAZA was blatantly violating the welfare of dolphins.
This is a big victory for the supporters of ending the dolphin drive hunts, which are heavily subsidized by the sale of “show quality” dolphins from the hunts to aquariums throughout Japan and in many other countries as well. The Taiji Whale Museum, owned by the town government of Taiji and a principle exporter of Taiji dolphins, is a member of JAZA.
WAZA, in a press release, stated that they had negotiated for many years with JAZA to end the practice of catching live dolphins from the Taiji dolphin drive hunt, but finally concluded they could not reach agreement with JAZA on the issue.
It has been many years since groups and individuals across the globe have been demanding that WAZA dump members like JAZA who are acting in ways that violate WAZA's Code of Ethics. Despite WAZA member aquariums' continued exploitation of captive cetaceans, it is at least acting to reverse the linking of catching cetaceans in the wild to bloody dolphin drive hunts that kill thousands of dolphins. It is an important step for WAZA, and let us hope it will mean more reforms to end the killing, captures, and captivity of dolphins for good.
The question now is whether this decision will have any affect on JAZA? Will it serve as a wake-up call to the organization? Will the Japanese government and industry leaders take a serious look at the hunts, now that WAZA has condemned them as cruel? Will the Taiji hunters face increased scrutiny? Or will they dig in their heels and continue to destroy entire families of dolphins, all in the name of profit?
Only time will tell. Continued pressure is needed on JAZA, on the Japanese government, and on the Taiji dolphin hunters.
A BIG THANK YOU to all who worked to see WAZA take action at last.
The world’s leading zoo organization last week announced it has lost patience with Japan’s continued use of dolphins from the fisheries drives at Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, and suspended its Japanese member from its roster.
The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) has made numerous attempts to stop Japanese aquariums from taking cetaceans from the Taiji drives, which are undertaken for several months each fall and frequently garner international criticism.
As recently as last summer, WAZA officials made an appeal in Tokyo, recommending its Japanese member implement a two-year moratorium on member organizations taking from the drives. The issue was discussed again during WAZA’s annual international conference in November.
While the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) has since proposed restrictions on the method of capturing dolphins, it has not restricted its members from taking animals from the drive, WAZA said.
“WAZA council concluded that a satisfactory agreement could not be reached and voted to suspend the Japanese association’s membership,” said Hyatt Antognini Amin, a WAZA spokesman. “The council also reaffirmed its position that WAZA members must confirm they will not acquire dolphins from the Taiji fishery.”
The governing body of zoos worldwide requires “all members to adhere to policies that prohibit participating in cruel and nonselective methods of taking animals from the wild.”
The dolphin hunts were brought to international attention in 2009 following the release of “The Cove,” a documentary that went on to win a best Oscar gong in 2010. In recent years, the killing activities have been shielded from public view.
The Taiji culls are widely considered to be both cruel and selective. The method used involves banging metal pipes underwater from fishing boats to confuse the animals’ sensitive sonar.
Species more prized as “show dolphins” for aquariums, which can fetch tens of thousands of dollars, are trapped in nets, while the remainder are impaled with metal spears behind the blowhole to sever the spinal cord.
In 2010, a Japanese study claimed this method was more humane than the more random hurling of harpoons from fishing boats employed previously in Taiji’s drive hunts. In 2013, however, a study by scientists in Britain and the U.S. refuted those claims, saying that analysis of the method showed it failed to “fulfill the internationally recognized requirement for immediacy.”
JAZA’s Kensho Nagai said the organization has explained its “circumstances” in some detail, but WAZA “has not been able to fully comprehend them.”
“The method being employed in Japan to catch dolphins is recognized by the Japanese government and it is from places following government-ratified fishing methods that aquariums are buying dolphins,” Nagai said.
The method used to catch dolphins that are used in aquariums and zoos nationwide is very different than the one used to catch dolphins that are used for food, he added. “Despite this,” he said, “the two methods are seen as being one and the same thing.”
Dolphins fished for aquariums “are handled with extreme care” and “are exposed to zero stress” by the Taiji fishermen, Nagai said.
WAZA failed to respond to a request for comment on Nagai’s claims.
What impact the suspension will have is uncertain, especially due to a seeming lack of concern about the Taiji drives in Japan.
Toshiaki Morioka, a member of nongovernment organization Action For Marine Mammals, said “most Japanese don’t know the facts” about the slaughters.
“If they did, I think most would be against it,” Morioka said. “It is symbol of a pathology in Japanese society that this news is rarely mentioned in the Japanese media.”
Morioka says JAZA ignores the global trend to reduce numbers of both dolphins and aquariums, but hopes the suspension will serve as a wake-up call for JAZA to reconsider the way the animals are handled, distributed and sold.
Asked if JAZA would consider pushing member aquariums to purchase dolphins from places other than Taiji, Nagai pointed to a dearth of alternatives.
“The chances of that happening are next to zero,” he said.
Fishermen corner dolphins in a bay near the town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, in 2011. | KYODO
Victory! World’s Top Zoo Association Kicks Japan Out Over Cruel Dolphin Drives
This week, animal advocates are celebrating news that the world’s top zoo association has finally suspended its Japanese member over its ties with the brutal dolphin drives that take place every year in Taiji.
Conservationists have been working for years to get the World Association for Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) to take a meaningful stand against member facilities that support the live capture of dolphins, but it had yet to take any real action until now.
WAZA announced that after failing to reach an agreement regarding its policies addressing the acquisition of animals, it voted unanimously to suspend the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) because of its continued involvement with controversial drive hunts.
Whale and dolphin advocates have brought these hunts into the public’s view, most notably with the award-winning documentary “The Cove,” and have raised international outrage over the mass slaughter and captures of dolphins that continue to take place annually.
While thousands are butchered and sold for their meat, more are torn from their families and sold to zoos and aquariums for public display. Many have continued to argue that if it weren’t for the money brought in by sales for captivity, the drives would have ended by now.
WAZA has said it condemns the drives and is not involved in any way, but it had continued to allow JAZA to violate its Code of Ethics and Animal Welfare without consequence. Now JAZA is finally being held accountable.
WAZA said in a statement that it “requires all members to adhere to policies that prohibit participating in cruel and non-selective methods of taking animals from the wild.” It added: “The basis for the suspension is a determination that JAZA has violated the WAZA Code of Ethics and Animal Welfare. Moreover, WAZA Council re-affirmed its position that members of WAZA must confirm that they will not acquire dolphins from the Taiji fishery.”
“We congratulate and applaud WAZA Council for doing the right thing,” said the Dolphin Project‘s Ric O’Barry. “Their credibility with their peers has been destroyed. This is a big win for all wild dolphins swimming past the shores of Taiji.”
The suspension also comes on the heels of a lawsuit that was filed last month by Australia for Dolphins (AFD), which hoped to get WAZA to uphold its Code of Ethics, or give JAZA the boot.
“The suspension of JAZA following AFD’s legal action is great news. It is a significant first step towards ending the horrific annual dolphin hunts in Taiji,” said Sarah Lucas, CEO of AFD. “Up to 40% of total demand for Taiji dolphins comes from WAZA network aquariums. WAZA’s decision to suspend its Japanese member for involvement in the hunts is a major blow to the world’s largest dolphin trade.”
According to AFD, JAZA facilities are home to more than 600 dolphins, while more half of JAZA’s 65 members acquire dolphins from the Taiji drive hunts. Whale and Dolphin Conservation, which is also applauding the move, added that since 2004, over 1,200 dolphins caught in the hunts have been sent to dolphinaria in Japan and other countries, including the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, China, Iran, Palau, the Philippines and Turkey.
AFD says it will continue with its legal action on behalf of dolphins who end up in other countries and, following the exposure of other serious abuses last month, hopes to get WAZA to enforce its animal welfare policies at all of its member facilities.
While the announcement is a huge step towards ending the drive hunts, captivity itself is still a major problem for dolphins and cetaceans. The demand won’t end until we stop supporting facilities that keep them.
Now that JAZA has been expelled by WAZA for violating their code of ethics as they continue to source dolphins from the cruel Taiji hunts, we call on the Japanese government to disallow the transportation of any dolphins from Taiji to JAZA facilities. We demand the Japanese government to permanently halt both the slaughter and trade in live dolphins, release the dolphin Angel into a seapen, and stop insisting that the hunts are a cultural tradition, as this has been proven false.
WAZA - STOP Supporting Facilities Involved in Animal Cruelty
♥︎WAZA, Thank you action to Dolphins and all Animals♥︎
Bullfighting has a very glorified public image — it is presented as a contest between the brave matador, who boldly risks life and limb to tackle a mad and ferocious beast. The matador is always dressed in a traditional costume of brilliant colours: the bullfight is seen by many as the mysterious ritual between man and beast, which is an integral part of Spanish culture and custom. For this reason, many tourists who visit Spain feel that seeing a bullfight is a necessary part of their holiday, just as tourists visiting Britain go to see the Tower of London.
THE FINAL DEGRADATION
In a 2008 interview, Múnera expressed that his conversion to an anti-bullfighting animal rights defender did not occur at any one moment in the ring, but was part of an ongoing process that began before, and extended after, the accident that ended his career:
Q: Did you ever think of quitting bullfighting before that bull confined you to a wheelchair?A: Yes, there were several critical moments. Once I killed a pregnant heifer and saw how the fetus was extracted from her womb. The scene was so terrible that I puked and started to cry. I wanted to quit right there but my manager gave me a pat on my back and said I shouldn’t worry, that I was going to be an important bullfighting figure and scenes like that were a normal thing to see in this profession. I’m sorry to say that I missed that first opportunity to stop. I was 14 and didn’t have enough common sense. Some time later, in an indoor fight, I had to stick my sword in five or six times to kill a bull. The poor animal, his entrails pouring out, still refused to die. He struggled with all his strength until the last breath. This caused a very strong impression on me, and yet again I decided it wasn’t the life for me. But my travel to Spain was already arranged, so I crossed the Atlantic. Then came the third chance, the definitive one. It was like God thought, “If this guy doesn’t want to listen to reason, he’ll have to learn the hard way.” And of course I learned.
In a 2008 interview, Múnera expressed that his conversion to an anti-bullfighting animal rights defender did not occur at any one moment in the ring, but was part of an ongoing process that began before, and extended after, the accident that ended his career:
