Indonesia: Activists urge govt to ban dolphin circuses

Bambang Muryanto, The Jakarta Post 14 Sep 15;

The Yogyakarta-based animal rights organization Animal Friends Jogja (AFJ) has asked the government to ban the performance of traveling dolphin circuses over their lack of conservation and educational value.

“The attractions in the circuses cause stress to the dolphins and shorten their lives. And then they [the circuses] catch more dolphins from nature again and that is illegal,” AFJ program manager Angelina Pane said during a rally in Pal Putih monument on Saturday.

During the rally, AFJ activists put on a “happening” art performance, showing dolphins being tortured in the traveling circuses.

The activists carried posters stating that, among other things, “Animal circuses are cruel,” “Wild animals are beautiful in their natural habitat,” “Save dolphins,” “Education not exploitation” and “Dolphins are trained by hunger method”.

Angelina said the Forest Protection and Natural Conservation (PHKA) General Directorate Regulation No. 16/2014 on the guidance of dolphin performance, which among other things, allows taking pictures with the mammal, even causes suffering to the animal.

“It’s torture since the dolphin has to stand its weight outside the water while posing for pictures. We want the regulation to be reviewed. The regulation was made as an order from the circuses’ mafia,” she said.

She said the regulation did not include the animal’s welfare and protection aspects, which had been proposed by many activists, including the Jakarta Aid Animal Network (JAAN).

Indonesia is reportedly home to the world’s last remaining traveling dolphin circuses. The intelligent sea mammals are trained to jump through rings of fire, are transported from town to town under poor conditions and the high levels of chlorine in their shallow plastic pools can cause blindness and burn their skin. Many die from stress, chlorine toxicity and lack of proper care.

Currently, a traveling circus of the PT Batang Dolphin Center (BDC), a unit of Batang IV Safari Park of Batang, Central Java, has been performing in Yogyakarta for a month.

One of the circus spectators, Rima Sulistiani, who accompanied her daughter to the show, said she felt sorry for the two dolphins.

Rima said one of the two dolphins seemed exhausted and refused the orders of its trainer.

“I feel pity for the dolphins, named Nakula and Sadewa. Their pool is so small,” she said.

However, Rima admitted that there is a small educational aspect to the show that teaches children that dolphins are mammals, not fish.

Separately, BDC field manager Ruslan Nugraha rejected accusations that his company was exploiting and torturing its dolphins, saying that the show was legal as it got permission from police, the PHKA directorate general and the Environment and Forestry Ministry.

“All our dolphins are healthy. They are not in distress,” Ruslan said, showing a medical checkup letter issued by the Yogyakarta Natural Resources and Conservation Agecy (BKSDA).

He also refuted that the dolphins were trained using a hunger method, saying that they were fed 20 kilograms of fish every day.

“They are not stressed as they only perform for 10 minutes. We have four shows in a day, so they only perform a total of 40 minutes,” he said.

In a one-hour show, besides the dolphins, Ruslan said the BDC also featured linsangs, macaws, cockatoos and poodles.

“We just want to entertain people,” he claimed.

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