Orca capture trade has moved to Russia, China, activists say
by Azure Gilman
Demand from aquatic theme parks in Russia, China fueling new market for wild orcas, marine experts say.
Decades before captive orcas started falling sharply out of fashion in the West, U.S. authorities had stopped allowing their capture in the wild. But many say the practice is alive and well — it has simply moved east.
Activists say Russia is the new frontier for catching wild orcas, an industry fueled by the growing demand for the crowd-wowing marine mammals from aquariums and theme parks in Russia and China.
Information about where orcas are caught and held is sketchy. Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), a nonprofit organization based in the United Kingdom, estimates that at least 16 orcas have been captured between 2012 and 2015 from the Sea of Okhotsk, off the coast of eastern Russia between Siberia and the Pacific Ocean. WDC believes that at least three orcas, which are also called killer whales, but are actually a type of dolphin, are in Moscow, and that Russia has exported at least seven to China …
Al Jazeera America – November 14, 2015 at 5:00 AM ET
america.aljazeera.com/articles…
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Published by „the fellbeißer“© (Nov 14, 2015)
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