Dolphin City awaits green signal

By T.S. Shankar and P. Oppili

CHENNAI, AUG. 25. Wildlife watchers have again turned their focus on Chennai, as the proposal to have a display of captive dolphins is before the Union Environment and Forests Ministry.

The prospects of again seeing the friendly sea mammals at a resort on the city outskirts hinge on the final clearance to be given by the Centre.

Dolphin City on the East Coast Road near Mahabalipuram waits for the green signal, to revive an activity that was given up last time due to the death of the animals.

The private company imported three dolphins from Bulgaria two years ago, creating a unique attraction here. Soon the ``king of all tourist attractions'' on the East Coast Road turned out to be a short-lived happiness as all the three dolphins died. The sudden death evoked protests from animal welfare activists including the Blue Cross of India.

The amusement company has approached the Centre seeking permission to import dolphins from a tropical country. The MoEF sought the assistance from the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to suggest `cetacean' (marine mammal specialists) which identified two marine mammal experts, Dr. Kineshita from Hong Kong and Dr. Nicholas Gales from Australia to evaluate the facilities of the Dolphinarium. Consequently, the two specialists flew in and made an on-the-spot inspection and presented a report to the MoEF suggesting some modifications for revival of the show.

The Centre despatched Mr. P. R. Sinha,

member-secretary, Central Zoo Authority of India (CZAI), and Mr. Pushpakumar, retired Principal Chief Conservator of Forests from Andhra Pradesh, to Dolphin City. After an inspection, the officials said the amusement company had to upgrade its expertise in ``husbandry and in-house keeping'' of the mammals. They also observed that there were no experienced veterinarians to handle dolphins.

``The hygiene appears to be good and the life-supporting system is extensive with excellent back-up facility, matching global standards. The designated staff ran the life-support system on a 24-hour shift and the level of overall sanitation appears to be very high,'' the report states.

The foreign experts have also recommended to the firm to choose suitable species of dolphins that would survive in the south Indian climatic conditions, and also change the feeding pattern of these mammals.

The company now proposes to import the dolphins from a neighbouring tropical country, said Dr. A. R. Pinheiro, Chairman of the company. The Rs. 13-crore Dolphinarium, which it earlier operated, was claimed to be the first marine zoo in the country.

At present, the amusement park is conducting shows with four sea- lions. Apart from the existing sea-lions, ``we are willing to protect Dugongs (sea cows) which are on the verge of extinction, subject to approval of the Government, for rehabilitating these fast disappearing marine mammals.''

``If all goes well, the dolphins can be seen in action shortly,'' Dr. Pinheiro said. The death of the mammals earlier at the dolphinarium pushed the company into rough weather, as it had borrowed huge sums from a State Government-owned finance corporation. This time the company says it is mobilising NRI support for the venture.

(Photo: K. Gajendran)

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