Dolphinarium opened in Dnepropetrovsk
Pros and cons
Dolphinarium was opened in September, 12 in Dnepropetrovsk. Three Black Sea bottle-nosed dolphins inhabit it. These dolphins are said to entertain children of the city as well as their parents at least during this year. Representatives of animal protection societies, however, deprecate aqua-shows of such kind. They assure the public that keeping mammals in such conditions is inhumane.
Dnepropetrovsk dolphinarium is an inflatable marquee, placed in the Central Park.
It seats 800 spectators and has a pool of approximately 1000 m3. The opening day of the dolphinarium was marked with a protest action. To inform the public about the conditions the mammals are kept in, the participants of the protest action organized some kind of a show.
The owner of the dolphinarium is a private circus union. Its representatives don’t deny the fact that the pool is filled with tap water. Nevertheless, they state the mammals will not have a sense of discomfort if sea salt-chlorine-acid ratio is complied with.
“These dolphins were bred in captivity, so they used to live in such conditions,” –
the senior trainer says.
It’s quite natural to have such dolphinariums in seaside cities, as the sea is quite
close to them and the water can be easily changed. But it is nonsense to open dolphinariums in cities with millions of inhabitants, as it is impossible to provide these mammals with good care.
But for the time being, the only one thing for the dolphinariums owners to be concerned with is public disgrace, until some precise norms as to mammals are accepted. The aqua-show organizers add: in case they get a good income from this show the dolphins will go on making shows here in the future.
By Nataliya Grischenko
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