Dolphin Hunt Numbers On The Increase
The drive hunt season in Taiji, Japan continues, with over 50 Risso’s dolphins captured in the hunts at the end of January. Reports suggest 1,209 dolphins and small whales have been driven into the cove, the highest numbers in four years.
The numbers captured alive in the hunts and then taken into captivity has increased significantly too. Reports suggest 219 dolphins have been taken alive since the start of the hunting season in October, which is 18 percent of the total number taken in the hunts, more than double the percentage taken alive last year.
Many of the dolphins taken alive in the hunts are sent to aquariums for display to the public in Japan. The remainder exported overseas, mainly to China. Dolphins captured in the drive hunts have recently also been exported the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Egypt and the Republic of Georgia.
WDC continues to work for an end to these brutal hunts.
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