World Animal Day Event “The Present and Future of Dolphins and Captivity”
World Animal Day Event (Sept. 23, 2025)
“The Present and Future of Dolphins and Captivity: 10 years since the ban on aquiring dolphins caught in Japan’s annual drive hunts”
This is the theme of a special event being held on Sept. 23 in the leadup to World Animal Day (Oct. 4).
In 2015, the Japan Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) ordered its members to cease purchasing dolphins captured during the annual dolphin drive hunts.
Ten years on, how has this ban impacted aquariums? And what does the future hold in store for dolphins?
To raise awareness about the plight of dolphins and consider a future without their exploitation by humans, this event will feature talks by those who advocated for JAZA’s 2015 move, as well as a presentation by a well-known overseas expert on cetacean captivity and husbandry issues.
The first part of the event will feature a lecture, and the second part a panel discussion.
Programme details will be posted at a later date.
Keynote Lecture
Speaker: Dr. Lori Marino (cetacean researcher & founder/president of the Whale Sanctuary Project)
Theme: Dr. Marino will discuss the natural ecology of dolphins and the welfare issues of captive dolphins from a scientific perspective.
She will also provide an opportunity to learn about the current situation surrounding dolphins overseas and the ongoing efforts to build sanctuaries abroad.
Profile: Lori Marino is a neuroscientist and expert on animal behaviour and intelligence and marine mammal captivity issues. Formerly a senior lecturer at Emory University, Dr. Marino is the founder and president of the Whale Sanctuary Project, which has established a whale sanctuary in Nova Scotia, Canada. She is also the founder and executive director of The Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy.
(The keynote lecture will be screened as a pre-recorded video.)
Event Overview
Date: 23 September 2025 (National Holiday)
Doors open at 12:00, event starts at 12:30, with a windup time of 16:30 (tentative).
Venue: National Olympic Memorial Youth Centre, Centre Building, Room 416, Yoyogi, Tokyo. (nearest stations are Sangu-bashi on the Odakyu Line and Yoyogi Koen on the Chiyoda Subway Line) Venue website: https://nyc.niye.go.jp/access
Language: Japanese
Entrance fee: ¥1,500
Booking: Online registration/purchase of tickets can be made in advance* at the following site:
https://wad2025dolphin.peatix.com/view
*No on-site registration is available. Online registration closes at 6:00 PM on Sept. 22. The entrance fee covers venue costs and materials distributed on the day.
Organiser: PEACE (Put an End to Animal Cruely and Exploitation)
Co-organiser: Umi, Iruka, Hito (Ocean, Dolphin, Human)
About World Animal Day
This event is being held to mark World Animal Day, which is held annually on Oct. 4. However, please note that this symposium event will be held on Sept. 23.
World Animal Day is a day dedicated to animals and those who care for them. It was started in Berlin in 1925 by Polish writer, cynologist, and animal protection advocate, Heinrich Zimmermann. Since 2003, World Animal Day has been coordinated by the UK- based animal welfare charity, Naturewatch Foundation, which launched the World Animal Day website to help expand its reach. Every year various events are held worldwide to improve animal welfare and raise awareness about animal-related issues, and there are over 90 World Animal Day Ambassadors who help to raise awareness of the day in over 70 countries around the globe.
To celebrate World Animal Day’s centennnial, and as the first-ever event held in Japan to mark the day, we will hold a symposium to discuss the present and future of dolphins and dolphin captivity. Dolphins are internationally recognised as symbols of environmental conservation, but in Japan, their exploitation for entertainment purposes is prominent, and the cruel capturing of these animals from the wild continues.
Robert Gilhooly, head of global outreach at PEACE, has been appointed as Japan’s first World Animal Day Ambassador.
https://www.worldanimalday.org.uk/ambassador/robert-gilhooly/
イベント詳細 日付: 2025年9月23日 カテゴリ: シンポジウム・講演会等 タグ: イルカ, 水族館 ９月23日（祝…
