Philippine court lifts order preventing export of dolphins to S’pore

SINGAPORE — A Philippine court on Wednesday lifted the temporary environment protection order preventing its 25 captive dolphins from being exported to Singapore.

A Quezon City court on Saturday issued a 72—hour temporary environment protection order to block the export of the dolphins, which were headed to the Resorts World Sentosa’s (RWS) Marine Life Park, after animal rights groups there filed a civil suit.

A RWS spokesperson said the integrated resort is "pleased that the court has decided to lift the temporary environment protection order".

"Our dolphins are doing well under the care of our team of experienced experts, and we look forward to welcoming them to Singapore," said the spokesperson.

"We regret that the group which initiated this court action had gone on various public platforms with inaccurate statements pertaining to our dolphins, perpetuating the same falsehoods that we had repeatedly made numerous clarifications and corrections to in the past," he added.

The spokesperson reiterated that the resort’s acquisition of the 25 Indo—Pacific bottlenose dolphins adhere to regulations governed by the United Nations Environment Programme under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

He added that the Marine Life Park is also set up for, and is preparing for accreditation with international accreditation bodies on its standards of animal husbandry, veterinary care and facility.

In a statement, the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) said it "regrets" that the court lifted the temporary environment protection order, "despite the strong evidence presented and a strong ruling previously".

"This fight is far from over, we will file a motion for reconsideration," said Acres.

It added that it will be launching the next phase of its campaign in Singapore shortly to increase the pressure on RWS to "respond positively to public concerns about the plight of the dolphins".

— TODAY/ir