Animal activists are calling on the government not to give a license to dolphin park Dolfinarium to export to China eight bottle nose dolphins because they may be used in shows and for breeding.

The marine zoo in Hardewijk is in financial trouble and has also announced plans to improve conditions at the park following a critical report by government inspectors.

The sale of eight dolphins, two walruses and two sea lions will bring in both much needed funds and create more space for the remaining animals which are now living in cramped and unhealthy conditions, the zoo says.

Among the measures to focus more on education and animal welfare the Dolfinarium will no longer force dolphins to jump through hoops although shows will not be entirely phased out, the park’s director Alex Tiebot said.

Animal welfare organisation World Animal Protection called the move ‘bizarre’.

‘We have just decided that dolphins should no longer be forced to act as circus animals in the Netherlands but  China has no rules in place to prevent that. There is a very real possibility that the dolphins will be used for shows and breeding purposes,’ a spokesman told local broadcaster Omroep Gelderland.

The Hainan Ocean Paradise, a new marine zoo in the south of China, has said it will respect the European norms on animal welfare but, the organisation said, it is impossible to check whether this will be the case. ‘Moreover, these are the same rules which still allow sea animals to be taken from the wild and don’t prohibit touching them,’ the spokesman said.

World Animal Protection wants the animals to be released into a designated part of the sea.

Orca

Several years ago the Dolphinarium sent a wild orca known as Morgan to an amusement part on Tenerife after she was found in a severely weakened state in the North Sea.

In 2018 Morgan gave birth to a calf, even though this was against the export permit. The Free Morgan Foundation is still fighting for her release.