Japan

Written by Mitsushi Takamoto on March 1, 2024

Dolphins in Japan

Hundreds of dolphins are slaughtered every year because the Japanese fishing industry considers them competition for “commercially valuable” fish. Those who survive the slaughter may be sold to marine parks to spend the rest of their lives in a tank.

In the small fishing town of Taiji in Japan, hunters ambush and chase dolphins into what is known internationally as the “killing cove”. Once the dolphins are trapped inside the cove the hunters stab them to death with spears or knives. The water turns red with the animals’ blood.

Elephants in Japan

Miyako is a female Asian elephant who lives in Utsunomiya Zoo in Japan. She is the only elephant in the zoo and has been living there since 1974. She was born in Thailand in 1971 and was captured from the wild when she was about two years old. Miyako’s welfare has been a subject of controversy and criticism from animal rights activists and elephant experts for some time. full article

The situation in Japan of these particular species is typical for most nations of the world: animals exist primarily to serve human needs.