Trained to perform tricks for the visiting public for most of their lives, the dolphins held at Dolfinarium Harderwijk will no longer do so following an investigation commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Nature, which found the dolphins were used for entertainment purposes and there was no educational programme in place. In 2015, inspectors from the ministry visited Dolfinarium Harderwijk and questions were raised about the performances the animals were trained to take part in, the tanks they lived in, and the interaction with the public in particular photo opportunities with the dolphins.
Like most marine parks/dolphinaria globally, Dolfinarium Harderwijk has experienced large financial losses due to the Covid19 pandemic. The dolphinarium has said they will change the format of their ‘shows’ to focus more on the animals’ natural behaviour and has revealed they also plan to move eight of their bottlenose dolphins, two sea lions and two walruses to China. The dolphins, two sea lions and two walruses are headed for Hainan Ocean Paradise, however, the destination of the remaining two walruses is not yet confirmed. This is of great concern for many reasons, one of which being that once in China, the dolphins will in all probability be used in the same show format they previously were in Harderwijk – performing demeaning tricks in shows to ‘entertain’ the paying public.
Margaux Dodds, Captivity Director for Marine Connection comments; “it is astounding that so many concerns were raised regarding conditions at this facility, yet Harderwijk are being allowed to take the one action of changing the show format. Even if the park does send eight dolphins to China, with the large number of dolphins still held there, a ban on any future breeding at the park should have been recommended in the report. Alex Tiebot, Manager of Harderwijk, has already stated that although they have ‘enough dolphins at the moment’, they may recommence a breeding programme in the future. This should not be allowed and we will be addressing the call for a breeding ban further with the authorities, captivity is not educational and must be phased out.”
Marine Connection is now making further investigations regarding the potential dolphin exports to China.
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