Dolfinarium Boudewijn Seapark has received a guarantee from Minister Ben Weyts (responsible for, among other things, animal welfare) that it can remain open until at least 2037. A new evaluation will follow after that. A condition set by the minister is that the park opens a large outdoor enclosure for at least seven dolphins.
Minister for Animal Welfare Ben Weyts has announced a new animal welfare code. The keeping of cetaceans is mentioned in this code. The keeping of cetaceans is prohibited in Flanders, with the exception of the dolphins at the Boudewijn Seapark Bruges dolphinarium.
Furthermore, it is stated that the dolphin collection must not fall below a minimum of 6. Should this occur, breeding may take place or an animal may be transferred from another park to Bruges. Boudewijn Seapark is a member of the EEP (European Endangered Species Programme) and always seeks advice from the EEP first in this case.
The code also states that the dolphinarium must invest in an outdoor pool before January 1, 2027 – regarding which the dolphinarium had already concluded an agreement with the federal government in 2013. However, this subsequently became a Flemish responsibility, and all studies have been redone.
In 2037, it will be reassessed whether animal welfare can be further optimized. In the meantime, the dolphinarium is regularly inspected – as is the case with every zoo. In the past, no violations regarding animal welfare have ever been established.
Situation sketch
In 2017, the park again asked the government for clarity about the dimensions for the outdoor basin. The park asked for guarantees about surface area per animal, depth, etc. Given the size of the investment and because the park already wanted to make progress with the plans. The animal welfare service took over the advice of the zoo commission and converted it into a draft legislative text with new standards for dolphins, which would be published with the new standards for primates and marine mammals. However, the piece about cetaceans was taken out at the last minute to investigate this further.
In 2022, Minister Weyts and the Commission for Animal Welfare appointed a renowned independent behavioral biologist to evaluate the welfare of the dolphins in Bruges. Based on, among other things, extensive behavioral research at Boudewijn Seapark in 2022, she wrote an advisory report. The outcome was an “excellent welfare score overall” of 84,9% for the animals in the Bruges dolphinarium.
In this report, the behavioral biologist has assessed the current level of animal welfare . Additionally, the report discusses the various scenarios and the associated potential consequences for the welfare of the current group of dolphins. However, all these scenarios proved to be more detrimental to the animals than the continued existence of the dolphinarium at Boudewijn Seapark.
Boudewijn Seapark is satisfied with this outcome. “Given that we score no less than 84,9% on animal welfare, it is logical that the Minister uses this as the most important point. Boudewijn Seapark has always invested and will continue to invest in the welfare of the animals. We are pleased that the Minister is now offering us clarity so that we can finally proceed with implementing what was agreed upon 10 years ago,” said Lars van den Ham, Director of Boudewijn Seapark.
Source and more information: www.boudewijnseapark.be