Pili is a small “go-getter” female, while Yaqu is a “more reserved” male. The Planète Sauvage animal park, in Port-Saint-Père near Nantes, is preparing to reopen its doors to the public with new residents, including two baby dolphins born last September and October. A news that delights the keepers of the marine city, one of the last two dolphinariums in France (with Marineland in Antibes), which therefore now has 11 dolphins after these births. “It is also an event for the rest of the group, which the mothers and then their little ones reintegrated several months ago, underlines Martin Böye, the scientific director. Their presence creates novelty. »
But these babies also raise questions, while dolphinariums are in the hot seat following a law “against animal abuse” voted in 2021. If this text were to put an end to the detention and reproduction in captivity of these cetaceans by 2026, it mentioned an exception for structures that carried out scientific research, such as it’s the case at Wild Planet. Since then, things do not seem to have been further clarified. The decrees are still awaited and the marine city therefore does not see why it would stop its activities. “Births are part of the normal life of dolphins, and also allow them to collect a lot of information to then understand the problems they have at sea, believes Martin Böye. Wanting to prevent them from reproducing, in terms of well-being, is catastrophic, not to mention the health problems that contraceptive products would cause”.
A new petition from opponents
Opponents, through the association C’est Assez, recently launched a petition denouncing “status quo” and “artistic vagueness” around the end of captivity, while asking the government to move forward on the question of sanctuaries. If this petition, which directly targets the park, has collected more than 35,000 signatures, Planète sauvage affirms that it is still optimistic about the future of its marine city “whose educational presentations, which aim to present the species, are always popular with visitors.
“We need to intensify our scientific work to halt the loss of biodiversity experienced by dolphins at sea,” continues Martin Böye. We have several research projects in progress, one on communication in dolphins, the other on acoustic scarers, which, placed on the nets, could make it possible to avoid accidental captures. »