Animal rights activists call on Hong Kong’s Ocean Park to ‘Empty the Tanks’

Hong Kong, May 7 (efe_epa). —  Dozens of animal rights activists congregated at the entrance of Hong Kong’s Ocean Park Saturday to call for an end to dolphins being held in captivity there and used for performances.

The protest, which started at around 11am local time (3am GMT) came as part of the annual ‘Empty the Tanks’ global campaign, in which events organized worldwide aim to “give a voice to dolphins and whales suffering in captivity”.

A group of around 50 people mainly consisting of Hong Kong locals joined the Ocean Park demonstration, waving signs bearing slogans including: ‘Animals are not ours to use for our entertainment’ and ‘No dolphin show, no captivity’, according to an epa journalist at the scene.

Around 20 security guards and 10 policemen watched over the demonstrators, as they tried to deter tourists from entering the marine entertainment park to watch dolphin shows.

Activists today argued that holding cetaceans in small concrete tanks so they can perform is immoral because in the wild the marine mammals would have the freedom to swim hundreds of kilometers each day.

Ocean Park has been displaying dolphins and giving dolphin shows since 1974, organizers of the protest wrote on the Facebook page for the event.

“During this 42year period, almost 200 dolphins died in Ocean Park,” they said, adding that by “living in tiny concrete tanks, dolphins are not able to express their natural behavior.”

Organizers added that to end the cruelty, people should “stop supporting the industry by not buying tickets and say no to Ocean Park.”