Something new for animal welfare.
The Minister of Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, presented, Tuesday, September 29, a series of measures aimed in particular at gradually banning the presentation of wild animals in traveling circuses.
The reproduction and the introduction of new killer whales and dolphins in the three dolphinariums of the country will also be stopped.
The minister also announced "within five years" the end of the breeding of American mink for their fur, noting that "our times have changed in their attitude to wild animals".
"It is time that our ancestral fascination with these wild beings no longer translates into situations where their captivity is favored over their well-being", launched the minister during a press conference devoted to "good -be captive wild fauna ".
Concretely, the end of wild animals in traveling circuses will be done "in the years to come", said the minister, without giving a specific deadline.
"Setting a date doesn't solve all problems, I prefer to have a process in place to make it happen as quickly as possible."
Regarding the fate of these animals - there are for example some 500 wild animals in French circuses, depending on the profession - "solutions will be found on a case by case basis, with each circus, for each animal", said the minister, stressing that these animals could obviously not be "released".
State support for the reinvention of these circuses
The measures will only concern animals in "roaming" circuses, and therefore not other shows featuring wild animals, said the minister.
The government will release an envelope of 8 million euros "for the reconversion of circuses and staff of dolphinariums".
"We ask them (at the circuses) to reinvent themselves, it will be a period when they will need support, the state will be at their side," she assured.
More than twenty European countries have already limited or banned the presentation of animals, just like around "400 communities" in France, according to the minister.
France also has four mink farms and three dolphinariums.
No new dolphinarium can be created, indicated the minister who mentioned the idea of a "sanctuary" to eventually accommodate the dolphins and the four orcas in captivity in the three existing ones.
She said it would take a period of "7-10 years to prepare for the sequel" for these species.
With AFP
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