Whale and Dolphin Conservation Forum

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Whale and Dolphin Conservation Forum

logo
legal form non-profit entrepreneurial company (limited liability)
founding December 11, 2008
Seat Hagen
Branch Animal welfare organization
Website www.wdsf.de

The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Forum ( WDSF ) is a non-profit animal welfare organization that is primarily dedicated to the protection of marine mammals.

organization

The organization was founded in 2007 by Jürgen Ortmüller with the support of the dolphin conservationist Richard O'Barry in Berlin . The seat is in Hagen . Since 2008, the WDSF has been a non-profit organization with a focus on the protection of the marine environment and marine mammals in the form of an entrepreneurial company (limited liability) . The WDSF is supported by volunteers and an independent, scientific board of trustees .

It has u. a. aim to show the threatened situation of marine mammals in their eyes and is committed to the protection of all whale and dolphin species and their natural habitats. There are still protests against dolphinariums . The WDSF describes itself as "one of the world's most active organizations for the protection of marine mammals with on-site protests and legal interventions against catastrophic attitudes in dolphinariums and animal cruelty."

job

The WDSF is committed to the closure of all dolphinariums in Turkey and the last two German dolphinariums in Duisburg and Nuremberg. Rallies in front of dolphinariums are therefore regularly organized. In addition, the organization advocates a ban on pilot whales on the Faroe Islands and the annual dolphin hunts in the Japanese fishing village of Taiji (Wakayama) . In 2014, animal rights activists from the WDSF demonstrated together with ProWal against the annual pilot whale catch on the Faroe Islands. Together with the ProWal organization, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Forum demands DNA analyzes from all dolphinarium operators in the EU in order to rule out the possibility of dolphins from Taiji being kept in EU dolphinariums. The zoo directors with dolphinariums in Duisburg, Münster and Nuremberg counter, however, that there are no animals from dolphin hunts in the European Union.

The WDSF also intervenes at the legal level in the event of legal violations. Since a visit in 2007, the WDSF has called for the orca and dolphin shows in Loro Parque to be closed . The WDSF filed charges against the owner of Loro Parque, Wolfgang Kiessling , for negligent manslaughter after a fatal accident involving Spanish orca trainer Alexis Martinez with a killer whale (orca). The organization also maintains relationships with governments at the meetings of the International Whaling Commission ( IWC) .

The detection of poor husbandry by the WDSF in the former dolphinarium of the Allwetterzoo-Münster led to the closure in 2013 because the money for a completely new, translucent roof was not available.

The dolphinarium in the Swiss amusement park Connyland had to close in 2013 following a WDSF initiative with ProWal due to a legal ban on dolphin imports.

There is also protest against the u. a. Dolphin therapy used in autistic children .

The WDSF has made agreements with the travel companies FTI Group , TUI ( Germany , Austria and Switzerland), Schauinsland-Reisen and Alltours that trips to dolphin and orca shows will no longer be offered or advertised worldwide. Since FTI Touristik has again advertised orca and dolphin shows in Loro Parque in its Canary Islands winter catalog 2015/16, the WDSF has withdrawn the "dolphin-friendly" award from the tour operator and expressed itself in a press release.

After criticism and protests by the WDSF and Sea Shepherd at the annual landings of the cruise companies AIDA, TUI and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises on the Faroe Islands due to risks for the guests and for reasons of species protection due to the pilot whale hunt and the killing of marine mammals on the beaches in close to the landing ports, AIDA and Hapag-Lloyd canceled their approaches to the archipelago in the north-east Atlantic after negotiations with the WDSF. The WDSF called for a boycott against TUI Cruises because the cruise company did not want to agree to the resolutions of AIDA and Hapag-Lloyd with the same wording and negotiations with TUI Cruises were negative. TUI Cruises does not intend to examine alternative routes until 2017.

After a court action by the WDSF against Zoo Duisburg AG, the Düsseldorf Administrative Court and, in the second instance, the North Rhine-Westphalia Higher Administrative Court in Münster, sentenced Duisburg Zoo to immediately disclose all its documents and data on dolphin keeping. The animal rights activists demand that the Duisburg Zoo give up keeping dolphins.

criticism

A statement by the biologist Christian Schulze ( Ruhr-Universität Bochum ) commissioned by the WDSF , which was part of the application by Bündnis90 / Die Grünen to close the dolphinariums in Germany, was approved by several scientists, including the bio-psychologist Onur Güntürkün (also Ruhr-Universität Bochum) and Guido Dehnhardt ( Marine Science Center of the University of Rostock ).

In his report, Schulz had criticized, among other things, that the limit value for the nitrate content in the water of dolphinariums was significantly too high at 100 mg / l, and pointed out that, for example, many corals already reacted allergically from 1 mg nitrate per liter of seawater. Güntürkün countered, among other things, that dolphins, as mammals that only live in the sea , unlike corals and other primarily marine animals, have a “considerably less exchange with the water ” and describes the comparison with other aquatic life forms as “terrifyingly naive ".

Furthermore, the living space within a dolphinarium according to Schulze is too small for the very fast animals, which in his opinion need at least a track length of 850–900 meters and the basins also otherwise do not correspond to the animals' range of action. Dehnhardt countered that many free-living marine mammals, including dolphins, drastically reduced their radius of action as soon as the food and partner situation allowed this.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. prcenter July 1, 2007: whale and dolphin protector Jürgen Ortmüller from Hagen / Westf. founds the international "Whale and Dolphin Conservation Forum (WDSF)" with Flipper's TV trainer, Richard O'Barry, following a debate in the Bundestag parliamentary group
  2. ^ Rheinische Post October 26, 2010: Demo because of dolphins: Zoo director calls police
  3. ^ Münstersche Zeitung 2009: Protest in front of the town hall - animal rights activists call for an end to the dolphinarium ( Memento from June 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  4. Self-presentation on wdsf.eu
  5. WAZ April 27, 2012: Animal rights activists can continue to publicly denounce Duisburg Zoo for keeping dolphins
  6. WAZ December 30, 2014: Dolphin protectors from Hagen continue to sue Duisburg Zoo
  7. Hurriyet Daily News April 4, 2011: German group demands freedom for dolphins southern Turkey ( Memento of the original from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hurriyetdailynews.com
  8. WAZ September 2, 2011: Dolphin protectionists threaten to take legal action against the city of Duisburg
  9. Thurgauer Zeitung April 2, 2012: Former "Flipper" trainer demonstrated
  10. DerWesten.de July 19, 2009: Protest against Duisburg Zoo ( Memento from October 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  11. presseportal July 22, 2014: German whale and dolphin conservationists demonstrate against the pilot whale hunt on the Faroe Islands
  12. Deutsche Welle 2009: The slaughter of the dolphins of Taiji
  13. portal.fo (Medium Faroe Islands) July 23, 2014: Mótmæla grindadrápi ólavsøkudag ( Memento of the original from June 7, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / portal.fo
  14. ProWal: ProWal on the joint campaign
  15. RP online October 22, 2009: Dolphinariums: Zoo directors fight back
  16. Abendzeitung Nürnberg 2009: Animal rights activists against Söder: New Zoff about dolphin lagoon
  17. openPR October 10, 2007: Killer whales are said to be banned from Loro Park in Tenerife after an almost fatal accident
  18. Online PR & Social Media News December 26, 2009: Criminal complaint against the owner of Loro Park for a fatal accident with a killer whale ( memento of the original from December 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.online-artikel.de
  19. Bündnis90 / Die Grünen May 9, 2008: Finally close the dolphinariums! ( Memento from January 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  20. News Blaze July 16, 2011: IWC Members Eject Corrupt Countries From Commission ( Memento of the original from September 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / newsblaze.com
  21. WDR Current Hour March 15, 2013: Greens want to ban dolphin keeping: Too small, not appropriate to the species
  22. ^ Rheinische Post March 30, 2012: Oscar winner demonstrates against keeping dolphins
  23. soaktuell.ch October 21, 2013: No more dolphin shows in Switzerland
  24. Mechthild Rawert Member of the Bundestag: Import ban on dolphins for dolphin therapy already implemented
  25. WDSF Homepage: "Dolphin Therapy"
  26. FTI press release from July 10, 2013: FTI does not advertise dolphin and whale shows
  27. SAT1 February 4, 2014: Tour operator TUI stops excursions to dolphin shows No more dolphin shows in Switzerland ( memento of the original from June 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sat1regional.de
  28. Die Welt June 30, 2014: Captivity drives dolphins to suicide
  29. Sat.1 February 4, 2014: Tour operator TUI stops excursions to dolphin shows ( memento of the original from June 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sat1regional.de
  30. Yahoo News from September 10th, 2015: Animal welfare organization revokes FTI Touristik's predicate "dolphin-friendly" ( Memento of the original from March 5th, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / de.nachrichten.yahoo.com
  31. ^ The Dodo September 2, 2014: Luxury Cruise Operators Take Stand Against Whale Slaughter
  32. Spiegel August 11, 2015: Controversial whaling: cruise lines avoid the Faroe Islands
  33. PICTURE July 26, 2015: German arrested because he wanted to save whales
  34. Stern August 11, 2015: Cruise ships boycott the Faroe Islands
  35. 3dtv-blog: Tourism - Aida and Hapag-Lloyd avoid Faroe Islands due to whaling  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.3dtv-blog.de  
  36. ^ NDR August 10, 2015: Whaling dispute: Animal rights activists versus TUI Cruises ( Memento from August 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  37. DerWesten: Duisburg Zoo has to publish further data on dolphin keeping [1]
  38. WDR December 13, 2016: The Duisburg Zoo must disclose all documents on its dolphin keeping [2]
  39. SAT1.NRW December 13, 2016: Data about dolphins - ( Memento of the original from October 27, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sat1nrw.de
  40. German Bundestag: End the keeping of dolphins (PDF; 146 kB)
  41. Nuremberg Zoo : Statements by various scientists (PDF; 165 kB)
  42. a b Christian Schulze: Report on minimum requirements for the keeping of mammals from April 8, 2010 - published on the WDSF website
  43. ^ Statement by O. Güntürkün
  44. ^ Comment by G. Dehnhardt