France bans captive breeding of dolphins 法國禁止人工繁殖海豚

How to do Dolphin Pose

TODAY’S WORDS

今日單字

1. breeding n.繁殖

2. aquarium n. 水族館

3. authorize v. 核准

4. replenishment n. 補充

France on May 6 banned the breeding in captivity of dolphins and killer whales under tighter rules that campaigners hope will eventually herald the end of shows involving the animals.

Environment Minister Segolene Royal had on May 3 signed a version of the legislation introducing “tight controls on the reproduction of dolphins,” her ministry said in a statement. But she has since decided the rules need to be “more radical,” her ministry told AFP on May 6, particularly after learning that “some animals were drugged” in aquariums.

The new rules ban the captivity of all whales, dolphins and porpoises, except for orcas and bottlenose dolphins already held in authorized aquariums.

Animal rights activists hailed the ban as a “historic French advance.” “In plain terms, this means the end of breeding, exchange and import programs,” five conservation groups including One Voice and Sea Shepherd said in a joint statement. “Without possible replenishment, this quite simply means the scheduled end of marine circuses on our territory.”

The new rules notably also require “an increase of at least 150 percent of pools to allow the animals to live in less proximity from visitors and other animals,” the ministry said, as well as banning chlorine in treating the water. Direct contact between the animals and the public is also now forbidden. Water parks and aquariums have six months to conform to the new rules, and a three-year deadline for expanding their pools.

(AFP)

法國於五月六日立法嚴格禁止國內以人工方式繁殖海豚和殺人鯨。動物保育人士期望新法能夠終結海豚表演。

根據法國環境部所發表的聲明，部長塞格琳‧賀雅爾五月三日簽署了一項法案，嚴格限制海豚的人工繁殖，但她在五月六日告訴法新社，她隨後得知有水族館對動物下藥，因此決定制定更嚴厲的法令。

新法禁止豢養任何品種的鯨魚、海豚、鼠海豚，只有部分已經飼有殺人鯨和瓶鼻海豚，且經政府核准的水族館可以繼續豢養海豚。