Dismay Over Plans for Indonesia’s Captive Dolphins

Jakarta Globe 16 Jun 11;

The Indonesian government plans to bypass environmental groups and dump captive dolphins in the ocean without proper rehabilitation, according to the Jakarta Animal Aid Network’s press release issued Thursday morning.

“Without rehabilitation the dolphins have a very small chance of survival,” Femke Den Haas, Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN) founder, said.

The Indonesian government plans to return all the dolphins held without permits directly back to the sea without prior retraining. But the government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with JAAN in October 2010 that arranged for all dolphins to be rehabilitated by JAAN before being returned to the wild.

JAAN runs the world’s largest dolphin rehabilitation center, located on Karimun Jawa Island.

“JAAN’s hope is that the government will follow the MOU and place the dolphins in the care of the JAAN for rehab before release,” according to the press release.

The group became aware of the government’s plan during meetings with Darori, the director general of Indonesia’s Forest Protection and Nature Conservation (PHKA).

The PHKA plans to release the dolphins previously held at the Taman Safari Center in Batang and with a traveling circus based in Kendral, according to Den Haas. The traveling circus holds six permits but owns more than 20 dolphins.

There are more than 50 dolphins kept in captivity without permits in Indonesia, the founder added.

She said dolphins require rehabilitation to regain muscle strength and hunting instincts before returning to their natural habitat.

“They have been in unnatural conditions where they swim in circles and are fed by handlers,” Den Haas said. “They must be re-trained to swim straight and hunt for food.”

Dolphins must also be trained to re-use their sonar system.

They stop using the sonar because it annoys them,” Den Haas said. “When in captivity they stop using it because the signal bounces [off the walls of the pool] and returns to them.”

According to Pramudya Harzani, JAAN director, the dolphins require between one and six months of rehabilitation, depending on how long they were held in captive.

JAAN said ideally the dolphins would be released around Karimun Jawa Island because there was a good chance the dolphins would reconnect with their families.

“Every dolphin has a unique sound and the ability to transmit its signal tens of miles,” Den Haas said.

“We will utilize GPS pegging after release to monitor whether the dolphins have reunited with their families.”

Indonesia in hot water over dolphin release plans
Yahoo News 16 Jun 11;

JAKARTA (AFP) – Indonesia's plans to release captive dolphins directly into the sea rather than put them through a rehabilitation programme drew fire from animal welfare activists Thursday.

Activists said the dolphins from a zoo and a travelling circus would almost certainly die without any preparation for the wild, such as training to learn to swim straight, hunt and use their sonar.

The Jakarta Animal Aid Network says plans to release the mammals directly into the sea also contravened a memorandum of understanding it had with the government to provide proper rehabilitation.

US dolphin activist Ric O'Barry, who was featured in the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary "The Cove", said Indonesia would attract a lot of negative international publicity if it went ahead with its release plans.

"This is an opportunity for Indonesia to send a message to the rest of the world about how much it cares for nature," O'Barry was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Globe website.

He said the dolphins would be in "great danger" if they were sent back into the wild without any preparation.

"They need to rebuild muscle strength, become accustomed to swimming in tides and currents and learn how to hunt live food again," he said.

Indonesia has done the right thing by banning the illegal capture of dolphins, but appears to be unaware of the international concern for the fate of captive dolphins, he added.

"This is a huge opportunity for positive publicity for Indonesia. I would hate to see them blow it," he said.

Government officials could not immediately be contacted for comment.

The Jakarta Globe said there were about 50 dolphins illegally held in captivity in Indonesia.