Dolphins at Center of Dispute Settle in Mexico
Date: 23-Jul-03
Country: MEXICO
Author: Elizabeth Fullerton
The dolphins, destined to entertain tourists at an aquatic theme park, were among 200 wild South Pacific bottlenose dolphins captured for sale in the anarchic Solomon Islands.
Environmental activists were up in arms at the dolphins' seizure and sale. The animals arrived before dawn in Mexico, almost 8,000 miles from home, after a 10-hour flight.
But the Mexican government said fears that the animals would suffer during the flight seemed unfounded.
"Everything indicates the dolphins arrived fine. They were given medical checks, the park gave them food. They do not appear to be stressed," Jose Luis Deras of the Mexican government's environmental protection agency told Reuters.
Activists worry that the animals could infect local dolphins and other sea life off the tropical Yucatan peninsula with diseases.
"This is shameful," said Sara Rincon, president of the Cancun Society for Animal Protection. "The animals should be placed in quarantine for 40 days, not in the sea."
Mexican environmentalists filed a lawsuit arguing it is illegal to bring exotic species to a protected natural area.
According to the Australian Associated Press, the Parque Nizuc aquatic park bought the dolphins for $260 each from fishermen in the Solomon Islands, hit by years of ethnic fighting and lawlessness.
Australia had asked Mexico to block the deal and New Zealand had expressed concern at the dolphins' capture. But Mexican official Georgita Ruiz, who granted the government permit, said the park had met the conditions needed to import the dolphins.
They arrived on a DC-10 jet in the early hours of the morning. Workers at the park hauled 3-foot (1-meter) deep tanks carrying the dolphins from removal trucks onto rickety metal carts.
Journalists at the scene were prevented from seeing the dolphins close up, but the occasional squeal could be heard as the animals were moved.
"The dolphins didn't suffer any trauma. They swam off fast as soon as they were lowered into the water and they began eating two hours after that," the park's vet, David Berron, told journalists.
