Taiwan's Dolphin Performances To End in 2026

TaiwanPlus News

Taiwan is set to join a growing list of countries banning dolphin performances. TaiwanPlus visited one of the nation’s ocean parks that still keeps dolphins in captivity to explore what the ban could mean for the future of these animals.

Transcript

00:00Welcome to Tien Haozhen, one of just a handful of dolphin trainers in Taiwan, loves his job.

00:19Because I'm studying animal science, so I really like these animals, especially big animals.

00:28Of course, I've been talking about獅子,河馬, such as big animals.

00:32Because I also really like swimming in water.

00:35So when I'm swimming in water and the animals, I don't want to go to the whales.

00:41From the fish on the fish, we can eat a fish.

00:47But in the years he's worked at Far Glory Ocean Park on Taiwan's east coast,

00:51and the decades since the animals were brought here, public attitudes have changed.

00:56Animal rights movements have led to a wave of criticism against the shows,

01:00saying the highly intelligent, highly social animals should not be kept captive.

01:06Having wild animals on display, tigers performing by jumping through flaming hoops and things like that,

01:13that is the history that we're talking about, and that's definitely gone out of style.

01:19And so some jurisdictions that are looking at the captivity of cetaceans are focused on the performance.

01:25But that is the least problem. That is the smallest part of the problem.

01:30Cetaceans, whales, dolphins, porpoises simply do not thrive in captivity.

01:35Dolphin shows started in Taiwan in 1981.

01:44Today, they're held at only two venues,

01:47Ye Liu Ocean World in New Taipei and here in Hualien.

01:51Tian and his team joined long after the animals were taken into captivity.

02:00Today, the park is home to five dolphins, four bottlenose and one rare resource dolphin.

02:06They have lived in this tank for about 20 years.

02:21Even though this pool is much larger than the average swimming pool,

02:25but when you think about it, it's much smaller than the ocean.

02:28And while these animals are being taken care of,

02:30it's impossible to know whether they are truly happy.

02:33Without trainers working with them,

02:36the animals would spend their days swimming countless laps.

02:39Actually, for us, there is more time to meet them

02:42or we can do more different training.

02:44Like, we have done some training for海豚's認知訓練.

02:48For example, I'm going to take a picture for them.

02:50Then we can let the海豚 see the picture after the picture

02:52and choose the picture.

02:54This training can boost their minds.

02:56The park has also changed its shows over the years

02:58to better look after the animals,

03:00making them less physically taxing.

03:02Today, the animals spend less than an hour of their day

03:05in front of audiences.

03:06leaving trainers to fill up the rest of their time.

03:07Today, the animals spend less than an hour of their day

03:08in front of audiences, leaving trainers to fill up the rest of their time.

03:13the rest of their time.

03:14Today, the animals spend less than an hour of their day in front of audiences,

03:18leaving trainers to fill up the rest of their time.

03:20the rest of their day.

03:21Today, the animals spend less than an hour of their day in front of audiences,

03:27leaving trainers to fill up the rest of their time.

03:29The animals spend less than an hour of their day in front of audiences,

03:32leaving trainers to fill up the rest of their time.

03:36the animals spend less than an hour of their day in front of their day.

03:38they have to be able to make an effort.

03:39the people who have to learn a pairs of actions.

03:40the humans to be able to go out to the rest of their day in front of the day.

03:41even though the animals start to make a puzzle,

03:42the animals start to make an effort and make a drawing.

03:43It's easy to use to use a tool to use a tool to use a tool to use a tool to use a tool to use a tool.

03:54Despite the growing push against animal performances,

03:57some spectators say the shows have an educational purpose, especially for children.

04:03I think it's hard to make them feel近距離.

04:06Because some things they can see on the books or on the TV,

04:09but I think it's a great experience in近距離.

04:12I think it's a great experience.

04:13I think that the skyline will give the kids to protect the environment

04:17and to make the environment more sustainable.

04:39But the dolphin behavior the kids see in the shows

04:41does not resemble how they behave in the wild.

04:44These performances are very circus-like.

04:47They're not educational.

04:48In fact, very often they misinform the public.

04:51Dolphins don't do the things that they are made to do in performances naturally most of the time.

04:58OK, so I think that's why they're focused on it.

05:01But the fact is that cetaceans who live in the ocean, of course,

05:07it's very difficult for us to provide them with the conditions they need to thrive.

05:13In 2026, Taiwan will join a growing list of countries,

05:16including Mexico, Costa Rica and Chile, that have banned dolphin shows.

05:21But while the performances may end, these dolphins will remain in the park.

05:26First of all, they have been under the

05:47In most cases, reintegrating captive animals into the wild is very costly and very difficult.

06:02While some countries like Iceland have had success using large pens set up at sea,

06:08Taiwan's geography and climate make this hard.

06:11The most important is the danger of the tide.

06:14Taiwan is in a more than a tide.

06:17These animals are being connected within a range,

06:21but in the range of the other areas of the tide can be done in a range of protection

06:24and the tide can be used as the use of smoke.

06:27The tide will make the impact of the tide of the wind.

06:32Perhaps they will be in the rain immediately after the tide has hit,

06:36or then hit a крут, or at the same time, and then hit the waves.

06:39However, there could still be other options for the future of these dolphins.

06:43That doesn't mean they can't be sent to a sanctuary somewhere else.

06:48Okay, they came from somewhere.

06:50Most of the animals in Taiwan aren't necessarily from Taiwanese waters, right?

06:55Somebody sent them there.

06:56It can be done in reverse, if you will.

06:58You can send them to a sanctuary that's been established somewhere else that is safe and protected.

07:03I'm not saying that's been done yet.

07:05We are still working on the concept for whales and dolphins.

07:08It's complex.

07:09With no real possibility of release and the show's ending,

07:13Tian and his team will see their official titles changed from trainers to caregivers in 2026.

07:20The training they used to use to amuse audiences will be turned to day-to-day care for the animals.

07:26For decades, signals like these have been used to ask dolphins to perform tricks.

07:33And sometimes they can also be used during health checks.

07:35For example, by doing this, I can ask a dolphin to open its mouth.

07:44Tricks like that help caretakers check the dolphin's health.

07:47And for Tian, caring for the animals is more than a job.

07:50Tian says Tian says he needs to be a self-made plant-based creature.

07:51Tian says Tian says there's a job that needs to be healed.

07:53Tian says Tian says he needs to be used by a horse to help me keep his healthy state.

07:56And by doing this, it must have been lived in my life.

07:58Tian says Tian says there's a job that helped me generate a healthy state of life.

07:59Tian says Tian says even though they have been treatment for a long time.

08:01Tian says Tian's mother is a child of the mother of the animals.

08:03When I met him so long, he would like to meet me.

08:06I think this is a kind of a relationship between each other.

08:10It's like a relationship between each other and each other.

08:14With a special bond with the dolphins,

08:17Tian says his responsibilities won't change,

08:20even after the performance's end.

08:23He will continue to work with and care for the animals,

08:26and welcome not only the final curtain fall on dolphin shows,

08:30but also Taiwan's evolving approach to animal welfare.

08:33Fu Wahong, Ha Wajang, Brent Thomas and Sunny Chi for Taiwan Plus.

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