How many German zoos contain dolphins? Is there widespread acceptance of having dolphins in captivity or are there annual protests at those facilities?
How many German zoos contain dolphins? Is there widespread acceptance of having dolphins in captivity or are there annual protests at those facilities?
There are 2 German zoos left that keep dolphins: Nurnberg & Duisburg. In recent years both Munster and Soltau stopped keeping dolpins.
In Germany there is quite some debate about dolphins (and also apes) in captivity, but this is mainly done by a very loud but very small community. There are regular protests, also in Nurnberg, but these do not attract many people.
This lagoon is only a few years old, but to be honest I find it on the small side, especially as 10 dolphins are kept and there was also not much enrichment provided....
This lagoon is only a few years old, but to be honest I find it on the small side, especially as 10 dolphins are kept and there was also not much enrichment provided....
I agree that it's a little small for so many dolphins, but it's one of the best cetacean enclosures I've ever seen. Natural-looking (enough) and a bit of a complex layout. One of the highlights is that they share it with the sealions. If more of the other captive dolphins worldwide were kept like this, I imagine the international outcry would be a little calmer than it is at the moment.
I suppose that if there is only a grand total of 2 German zoos (out of 500 "zoos" in the nation) that maintain dolphins then that is an indication that the animals are not desirable due to the high cost of showcasing them as well as possibly modern views of dolphins in captivity.
I suppose that if there is only a grand total of 2 German zoos (out of 500 "zoos" in the nation) that maintain dolphins then that is an indication that the animals are not desirable due to the high cost of showcasing them as well as possibly modern views of dolphins in captivity.
In northern & central Europe dolphins are indeed not very common. They are absent from the UK, Germany has 2 zoos, France 3, Belgium, Finland, Netherlands and Sweden all have 1 zoo with bottlenose dolphins, the rest have none. The only recent new holder is Planete Sauvage in France who started in 2008... And I guess that indeed the cost of starting with dolphins is too high for many and add this very vocal minority and there is a recipe for zoos not to want to start keeping dolphins....
Whether that is a bad thing I do not know, because this enclosure here in Nurnberg costed about 20 million euros, which is an awful lot of money for a pool that is oke, but not extremely big. If one thinks about spending such an amount of money, it could be used better and not in something that keeps on raising controversy...
According to zootierliste there are 32 collections in Europe (nor including Russia , Turkey, or the Canary Islands) that keep bottle-nosed dolphin of no specific subspecies.
