Dolphin Tricks At Baħar Iċ-Ċagħaq Marine Park To Continue After Malta’s New Circus Law
New animal welfare legislation that widens the legal definition of circuses will not impact the operations of the Mediterraneo Marine Park in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq as it is legally recognised as a zoo.
As part of a bill to update the Animal Welfare Act, the government is proposing a change in the legal definition of animal circuses, which have been banned in Malta since 2014.
The current legal definition of “circus” is “any place where animals are introduced for the purpose of performance, manoeuvres and shows or otherwise and shall include any place where animals used in such circuses are kept or trained”.
As part of the proposed law, the definition will be widened to mean “any exhibition put on by exhibitors for profit, and viewed by the public for entertainment which offers amusement and display, and where animals are made to perform tricks or manoeuvres, which do not reflect their natural behaviour or does not offer any educational value”.
However, a spokesperson for Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Rights Alicia Bugeja Said confirmed with Lovin Malta that the regulation doesn’t apply to Mediterraneo, where dolphins perform tricks to the public, because it is registered as a zoo and specifically regulated under the respective zoo regulations.
Animal rights activists have in recent months pressured the government to treat the park as a circus and shut it down.
“Just because Mediterraneno doesn’t have a tent and doesn’t move from place to place doesn’t lessen its impact on the animals caught inside,” Moviment Graffitti activist Clara Cutajar told a protest last month. “It’s absurd that it is licensed as a zoo seeing as dolphin shows take place on a regular basis.”
Katya Borg from Animal Liberation Malta warned that there is nothing natural about the way dolphins behave in the marine park.
“It isn’t natural for a dolphin to blow kisses, wave at people and pose for selfies. It’s natural for them to hunt in packs, teach their young how to hunt, and swim for up to 30km in a day,” she said.
“Some people think that just because the dolphins are smiling, it means they are happy, but the truth is they are suffering and are denied food to obey their trainers’ orders.”
However, Mediterraneo warned that closing the park down would have a “devastating” impact on the five dolphins in its care.
“Mediterraneo Marine Park is in favour of increased standards that ensure the wellbeing of dolphins. The park is a zoological facility and has always been given a zoo license,” a spokesperson for the park said.
“The park was opened in 1997 and since then there have been considerable changes to make dolphin displays fully educational and mostly based on the natural behaviours of dolphins or movements that assist in veterinary care. We are open to further improvements.”
“However, we are concerned with the increased demands by animal activists to close the park. This will be devastating on the five dolphins in our care because they will likely end up in parks outside of Europe where standards differ radically.”
“Around the world, there have been no proven successful attempts to release dolphins in the wild. European institutions currently care for 257 bottlenose dolphins that form part of the EEP (European Ex-Situ Programme). Due to pressures on these institutions, it is becoming increasingly difficult to relocate dolphins in Europe due to risks of overcrowding. We are fully open to dialogue and cooperation with the authorities and we urge any decisions to be taken with scientific data.”
Cover photo: Left: Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Rights Alicia Bugeja Said, Right: Stock image
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