Cyprus government to overturn dolphinarium ban?

A sixteen year ban on the keeping of dolphins in captivity in Cyprus could be overturned, according to a report in the local Cyprus Mail.

In 1997 a Ministerial decree was passed prohibiting whale and dolphin shows and the use of them for commercial purposes in Cyprus. Finally, after the decree came into force in 1999, the Ayia Napa Marine Park closed its doors, not long after the last of four Black Sea bottlenose dolphins it held had died.

Since 1999, other European countries, such as Croatia, have also enacted bans on dolphinariums.

It appears applications in Cyprus will now be looked at on a case-by-case basis by the government.