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.
Photo: Reuters
照片：路透社
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。
動物權人士稱新法為「法國歷史上的重大進步」。包含「一個聲音」、「海洋守護者協會」在內的五個動保團體發表聯合聲明指出：「簡單來說，這個法令的意義在於終結國內鯨豚的人工繁殖、交易和進口」，因為「只要鯨豚的供應無法持續，國內的鯨豚表演就必然會有結束的一天。」
值得注意的是，新法也規定水族館必須將鯨豚的水池增大至少一點五倍，以拓寬鯨豚和遊客及其他動物之間的距離。此外，新法也禁止水族館在水中加入氯，並禁止鯨豚和一般大眾直接接觸。海洋公園和水族館須於三年內擴建水池，並於六個月內改善其他新法所提及之事項。
（台北時報編譯涂宇安譯自法新社）
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