Dolphinaria-Free Europe member Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) has launched a new anti-captivity campaign #FREI in Germany. The purpose of the campaign is to gather support for a phase-out of captivity in Germany, by asking supporters to sign and send postcards to the two remaining zoos in Germany who keep captive dolphins. The ultimate goal is to close the last two dolphinaria in Germany and follow the example of many other countries in Europe.
Keeping those highly intelligent and social creatures in captivity for human entertainment is simply wrong. Concrete tanks can never replace the ocean and therefore the breeding of dolphins in captivity must be stopped. Some of the dolphins in Germany were born in captivity; some have been captured in the wild. Dolphin Nynke was only two years old when she was separated from her family in the Gulf of Mexico. Since then she has been transported from one European dolphinarium to another, finally ending up at the Nuremberg Zoo. Trying to fit into new groups of dolphins every few years has been an additional challenge for her in addition to the risks posed to her health and welfare through being confined in captivity. Nynke has given birth four times in captivity. Two of her calves died shortly after birth and the third was taken away from her after only two years. The separation of mothers and their calves is only one part of the cruel practice of keeping dolphins in captivity in Europe.
A number of other materials including a short film can be viewed on the WDC website (in German). Please visit and lend your support to this campaign to bring about an end to dolphin captivity in Germany.