Skip to content
All news
  • All news
  • About whales & dolphins
  • Corporates
  • Create healthy seas
  • End captivity
  • Green Whale
  • Prevent deaths in nets
  • Scottish Dolphin Centre
  • Stop whaling
  • Stranding
  • Whale watching
Japanese whaling ship

Infamous whale slaughter ship docks for the final time

The whaling ship, Nisshin Maru has returned to the port of Shimonoseki for the final...
Sperm whale

Dominica announces new protections for sperm whales

Dominica has placed almost 800 square kilometers of sea off the west coast of the...
Porpoise dies after becoming entangled in fishing net

UK government rejects chance to protect whales and dolphins

The government has formally rejected almost all of the crucial recommendations made in a House...
Common dolphins © Christopher Swann

Ocean areas selected for conservation are now in danger says task force

The international task force celebrating 10 years of work mapping out Important Marine Mammal Areas...

World Association of Zoos suspends Japanese member over dolphin hunt support

WDC has welcomed the news that the council of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) has unanimously decided to suspend the membership of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) over its continued support for the dolphin drive hunts in Taiji, Japan. The taking of dolphins from the hunt is in violation of the organization’s code of ethics.

The decision comes after years of lobbying by WDC and others for WAZA to take concrete action against JAZA. Many of the dolphins not killed in the hunts are instead taken into captivity by marine parks in Japan and other countries. WAZA had previously tried to negotiated with JAZA for a two-year moratorium on the captures but agreement between the parties could not be met.

A recent inventory of captive dolphin facilities in Japan, supported by WDC, revealed that of the 104 aquaria in Japan, 67 are JAZA members, and 37 of those members hold dolphins. One of the JAZA members is the Taiji Whale Museum, the primary broker of dolphins to national and international facilities. Since 2004, over 1200 dolphins caught in the hunts have been sent to dolphinaria in Japan and other countries, including the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, China, Iran, Palau, the Philippines and Turkey.

WDC is pleased that WAZA has taken the positive step to suspend JAZA’s membership status, and to hold all members accountable to the WAZA Code of Ethics.  With this action, WAZA has reaffirmed its position against  the dolphin drive hunts in Japan while allowing discussions with JAZA to continue.

Please help support our campaign to end the cruel dolphin hunts

About George Berry

George is a member of WDC's Communications team and website coordinator.