UNDERWATER WORLD URGED AGAIN TO FREE PINK DOLPHINS, Underwater World misinforming the public: activist

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TODAY

Friday February 6, 2004

 

UNDERWATER WORLD URGED AGAIN TO FREE PINK DOLPHINS

 

Watchdog says four of six sea mammals not captive-born

 

Joy Frances

joy

 

In its third press conference on the subject since last September, a local

animal watchdog group again urged Underwater World Singapore (UWS) to set

its pink dolphins free. This time, the Animal Concerns Research and

Education Society (Acres) said the Haw Par Corporation-owned UWS knew at

least four of the six dolphins it bought from Thailand's Oasis Sea World

(OSW) were not captive-born.

 

Yesterday, Acres president, Mr Louis Ng, said the despite UWS' claims that

all its dolphins were captive-bred, evidence said otherwise. Two of its

dolphins, Jumbo and Pet, are 30 years and 27 years old, respectively. OSW

only began operations in 1988 - 16 years ago - and it and the UWS are the

only known sea centres to have pink dolphins.

 

Haw Par's management refused to comment yesterday. It had not acceded to

similar demands in the past, maintaining that the dolphins - which are

handled by the public and perform tricks - were used for educational

purposes and were well taken care of.

 

Mr Ng further alleged the UWS had failed to identify the source of the

Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins in its import application form to the

Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) of Singapore, but had told AVA

the dolphins were not all captive-bred.

 

But Ms Lye Fong Keng, head of AVA's Wildlife Regulatory Branch, said: " UWS

stated that a number of the dolphins it intended to acquire, were bred in

captivity within Oasis Sea World and all the dolphins had been held within

OSW for at least three years.

 

" Based on this letter and the application form, the officer processing the

permit made a clerical mistake by stating all six dolphins as

captive-bred.

 

" We were not alerted to the mistake as the Thai authorities had also

indicated on their export permit that the six dolphins were captive-bred. "

 

She said the AVA and their Thai counterparts would be " making corrections "

to their " permit and annual report records " .

 

But Mr Ng wanted more.

 

He cited a study done on wild pink dolphins in Thailand by a body of

scientists, the World Conservation Union, stating that the demand for live

specimens had led to a decline in visible numbers.

 

They have petitioned the Convention on International Trade in Endangered

Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) - that lists the dolphins in

Appendix 1 among the most endangered species - to consider any trade

detrimental to the species; and thus contrary to recommendations under

Cites, of which Singapore and Thailand are signatories.

 

 

Streats

6 Feb 2004

 

Underwater World misinforming the public: activist

'Four pink dolphins were caught in wild'

 

By Sharlene Tan

 

Animal welfare activist Louis Ng, 25, reiterated yesterday his call to set

free the pink dolphins at Sentosa's Underwater World.

 

The president of Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres)

first made the call last September during a campaign to free the

Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins.

 

Yesterday, he revealed that four of the six dolphins at Underwater World

Singapore, a tourist attraction on Sentosa, had been wrongly classified as

captive-bred - they were actually caught from the wild.

 

Underwater World was misinforming the public by providing inaccurate

information, he said.

 

" It claims to be conservation-oriented, yet they took wild-caught dolphins. "

 

But Ms Lye Fong Keng, head of the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority's

Wildlife Regulatory Branch, said Underwater World " had not misrepresented

any information regarding the source of the six dolphins " .

 

She explained that Underwater World had stated that the dolphins had been

held in captivity in Thailand for at least three years and that the AVA

officer processing the import permits mistakenly stated that all six

dolphins were captive-bred.

 

" Neither Thailand nor Cites (the Convention on the International Trade in

Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) had imposed a zero quota or ban

on the export of these wild dolphins, " she said.

 

Both Singapore and Thailand are signatories to Cites, an agreement among

164 countries which aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of

wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

 

During the recent parliamentary session, Minister of State (National

Development) Vivan Balakrishnan said in response to a question: " The

acquisition of the six Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins or pink dolphins from

Thailand by Underwater World Singapore did not contravene Cites'

requirements. "

 

The dolphins were imported from Oasis Sea World, a marine park in Thailand.

 

The park was raided by the Thai Forestry Police in December after it

received a compliant from Acres.

 

Mr Ng, who was at the raid, said that Oasis Sea World has admitted to

taking wild dolphins caught by fishermen.

 

" If there is a demand for live specimens from oceanariums, fishermen will

definitely catch these dolphins, " he said. " Acres urges Underwater World

Singapore to return the dolphins back into the wild. "

 

Haw Par Leisure, which operates the attraction, declined to comment, but

last October, it denied Acresclaims that the dolphins were stressed,

citing the birth of a baby male as evidence of their health.

 

Still, it appears that the animals will get a short break. The Dolphin

Lagoon will be closed from Feb 16 to March 12 " for routine maintenance " ,

Underwater World's website said.

 

At the lagoon's Meet the Dolphin sessions, four times a day, visitors watch

the creatures perform, and some may enter the water to touch and feed them.