New Zealand Govenment To Ban The Keeping of Marine Mammals

New Zealand Govenment To Ban The Keeping of Marine Mammals
27-03-2011

In an article regarding the closing of Marineland in Zealand it seems to be suggested that the government is planing to ban the keeping of marine mammals in captivity in New Zealand including pinnipeds.

I find it hard to follow the logic of this because even you have a position against cetaceans in captivity - pinnipeds are a very different issue. In fact a logical progression of such a draconian move would be the banning of bears, ape and other mammals.

And what will be the fate of seals and sea lions already in captivity e.g Auckland Zoo? Euthanasia?

Does anyone have future information?

Napier's Marineland to be closed and cleared - Local News - Hawke's Bay Today

28-03-2011

I believe that the government's intent to "phase out" removes any suggestion that they intend to euthanize any animal.

28-03-2011

No doubt that will be the situation. I am still very surprised that they consider seals and sea lions unsuitable for captive display. What kind of actual research have then done on this issue?

28-03-2011

Government... decision... actual research...

I'm sorry but I don't see the connection

28-03-2011

LOL

28-03-2011

Silly me

28-03-2011

A thread on the broader Marineland topic, in case you haven't seen it already, is this one: last dolphin at Marineland dies
Other Napier Marineland threads here: Marineland of New Zealand, Napier Forums

The "ban" on keeping cetaceans in NZ, although not actually down on paper, has pretty much been in effect for decades given that only Napier had dolphins anyway and they were refused permits multiple times to import or otherwise obtain more to replace their aging animals (now all dead, the last one in 2008). The government department behind the banning/phase-out of marine mammals in captivity here is the Department of Conservation (DoC). They are world-renowned for their contributions to conservation and their expertise has been called upon many times around the globe, especially with regards to eliminating introduced pests from oceanic islands. As a New Zealander I am incredibly proud of the achievements of DoC, however they do seem to be very anti-captivity on many levels. That in itself is unusual because they run their own breeding facilities for native birds that are open to the public (e.g. at Mt. Bruce and Te Anau) and all native species in NZ zoos are licenced by DoC. With the marine mammals, I can totally understand their desire for a ban on captive dolphins (even if only for simple PC reasons), but the pinniped one's a bit harder. I did write in the other thread that why should captive seals be seen as any different to captive bears or lions. I think basically DoC don't want native pinnipeds (i.e. NZ fur seals and Hooker's sealions) in zoos because the enrichment programs for pinnipeds generally involve "circus acts" which is a big no-no (they have phrased it as something like "holding indigenous mammals for public display is not in the long-term interests of the species") but they can't really oppose keeping native pinnipeds and not exotic ones like the Californian sealions so they just want them all out. The ones at Auckland Zoo are deemed phase-out by the zoo anyway so that just ties in nicely. My concern is what is going to happen to injured pinnipeds that can't be released after rehabilitation - where are they supposed to go if keeping pinnipeds in captivity isn't allowed?

There's some government documents here as well: http://www.marineland.co.nz/docs/govt_docs.pdf

28-03-2011

They're phasing out the pinnipeds at Auckland? Isn't Sea Lion Shores a relatively new exhibit?

28-03-2011

well it was opened somewhere between five and ten years ago (can't find an exact date but it was early 2000s). However it was just recently renovated.

28-03-2011

Sorry for being tangential to the thread, but what will happen with that area when the sea lions are phased out?

28-03-2011

*sigh* euthanasia. Yes the NZ government decides its cruel to keep pinnipeds in captivity and thus orders their deaths.

why does everyone screech euthanasia at the drop of a hat?

28-03-2011

the exhibit houses both the pinnipeds and little blue penguins. "Phase out" implies keeping them till they die, which could take decades, but whether they depart or are kept till they die I should imagine that afterwards the exhibit would remain for the penguins. It is currently being used as the "coast" part of the new NZ area Te Wao Nui.

Of course, despite DoC's stated phase-out plan, it could always happen that the zoo remains a holder of rehab fur seals. I don't really know. They probably haven't even thought that through properly....

28-03-2011

Sadly because it can happen. It's happening now in the UK with stranded cetaceans. If a porpoise strands in the Netherlands it would be taken SOS Dolphin at Harderwijk and attempts would be made to rehabilitate it and hopefully re-release it. In the UK however if the animal can not be 're-floated' within a few hours it will be killed on the beach; the fate in most cases for these animals as they come ashore because they tend to have an underlying pathology. Which may be the case for 'stranded' pinnipeds in New Zealand although the ones in zoos may fare better due to public sentiment against such actions.

On a wider point, which seems to have only been touched on, if the NZ government think it isn't PC to keep pinnipeds what about the great apes? The husbandry of most commonly kept pinnipeds is well codified and no more problematic that other ABC species kept in zoos such as big cats. The idea that suddenly they become persona non grata due to no better reason than the are marine mammals is ludicrous in the extreme.

I have always had a real problem with the concept that this or that species not being suitable for captive care without recourse to prober investigation. We did this in the UK with the Drs. Klinowska and Brown Review of Dolphinaria as regards cetaceans. The keeping of which hasn't been 'banned' despite the impression given by some groups. And to this end one wonders if the New Zealand's Department of Conservation ever bothered to look at this research when making their decision on cetacean keeping in NZ?

Animal welfare should be judged by proper scientific investigation not by the propaganda of special interest animal-rights and various groups with political agendas which seems to becoming more and more common place.

28-03-2011

Thank you for your information. Very helpful.

It is interesting that in the above documents there is no mention of the 1985 NZ Department of Fisheries investigation into marine mammal keeping at Marineland cited in Drs. Klinowska and Brown's 1986 "Review of Dolphinaria" which stated:

New Zealand has recently completed a Report on Marineland of New Zealand. The Officials Working Party (New Zealand, 1985) considered Marineland to be a commendable organization, well staffed and managed, with generally good operating standards and physical design. They had some criticisms related to the number and placement of some animals (mainly seals), the need for additional veterinary facilities and the need for extra pools. They recommended that a permit be given for two more common dolphins on condition that the extra facilities are provided immediately and before the dolphins are captured. The Report contains very detailed draft standards covering all aspects of marine mammal husbandry, capture and transport. The provisions for cetaceans are very similar to those in use by other countries, except for some aspects of catching which refer to the local situation. The pool dimensions suggested are those published by the USA in 1979.

Reference

New Zealand. 1985. Officials Working Party Report to the Minister of Fisheries on Marineland of New Zealand. 31 May 1985

It's interesting in the linked documentation you kindly directed to that the government officials involved seemed very vague as to the current scientific understand of the welfare of captive marine mammals and certainly make no mention of the UK or others actual standards seemly giving rather unsupported statements suggesting 'disturbed behaviour' and 'trauma' re captive cetaceans without any supporting referenced evidence.

Reading between the lines the comments seem to suggest that keeping native marine mammals does not further their conservational goals which may be fair enough but what about non-native species and also the role displaying marine mammals may contribute to public education and research something that modern zoological collection strive to do?

28-03-2011

nothing would happen with Auckland Zoo's pinnipeds. They will either stay there (phasing out, so to speak ) or, at worst, get exported. But Marineland is actually getting removed entirely, the site is being levelled to be redeveloped as something else, and the pinnipeds there have to go somewhere. The only choices are Auckland Zoo (almost certainly not possible due to the numbers at Marineland, but I'm happy to be shown to be wrong), export, or euthanasia. I do seriously doubt the last option will be taken, but while the Californian sealions could be exported the NZ fur seals probably wouldn't be due to them being native species. I'm not at all sure what's going to happen to the Marineland animals, will just have to wait and see.