Marine park says whale and dolphin breeding ban 'will harm animals'
Marineland, Europe's largest park, says new legislation will cause "stress" to its animals being held in captivity.
Thursday 11 May 2017 18:44, UK
A marine park is to fight a new ban on breeding killer whales and dolphins in captivity, claiming the ban will harm its animals.
Marineland, located in the Antibes resort in southern France, has said the legislation, introduced by the government last week, will cause stress for its sea mammals.
The new rules also ban all whales, dolphins and porpoises from being kept in captivity apart from those killer whales (also known as orcas) and bottlenose dolphins already housed in parks - which are now prohibited from breeding.
Direct contact between animals and the public is also banned and parks have been ordered to enlarge the pools their animals are held in.
Animal rights activists are hoping the legislation will eventually force the closure of marine parks in France.
But Marineland, the biggest sea park in Europe, has vowed to fight against the new laws and is exploring possible legal action and launching petitions.
Jon Kershaw, the park's wildlife director, cited animal welfare concerns when explaining Marineland's opposition to the ban.
"To impose this law, and I am talking about imposing, on the animals, we will have to put them under stress," he told Reuters TV.
"We will separate them. We will give them chemical treatments for fear of them reproducing.
"I am sure that this will have an effect on the animals' life expectancy, so it's not normal, it's not logical to establish on the one hand a decree made for protecting animals, and on the other hand harming them like that.
"I don't understand."
Marineland is home to a handful of killer whales and around a dozen bottlenose dolphins. The animals are presented to visitors at two shows per day.
In 2015, Marineland was criticised after one of its killer whales died during flooding.
There are an estimated 3,000 whales and dolphins held in captivity around the world, according to activists at website uk.whales.org.
The welfare of marine park animals was documented in 2013 documentary Blackfish, which focussed on a captive killer whale at SeaWorld in the United States.
In response to the film, a series of American politicians took steps to ban the keeping of marine animals.
SeaWorld last year announced it no longer breeds killer whales in captivity and would stop the animals performing tricks on command.