Dolphins returning homeby | 24-05-2015 23:01 |
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  The Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin is a species of bottlenose dolphin that live in the waters near India, northern Australia, Red Sea and eastern cost of Africa. Although they are not globally categorized as endangered species, they are considered to be vulnerable to environmental degradation and there are only 110 animals near Jeju Island, southern Korean Sea. Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin is on the list of CITES protected species. For your information, CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments of which aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals. I would like to share the story of a few Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins, Jae-Dol and his friends, who were illegally captured by poachers and sold to a private animal performance enterprise in 2009. They had been on the dolphin show for about 2 years until the private performance company was criminally prosecuted in 2011. After that, the dolphins had been forfeited to Korean government by the ruling of Korean Supreme Court in 2013. Then, the Korean government decided to return them to the southern Korean Sea, their hometown, but this couldn't be happened right away because those dolphins were in the severe stress and even showed depression. A group of people consisting of professionals and animal experts took care of and trained them so that they could adapt themselves to the wildlife living immediately. Jae-Dol was the first one to go back to his hometown among his friends because others were not in a good condition compared to Jae-Dol. Jae-Dol returned to Sea of Jeju Island in May, 2014 and a year after, May, 2015, the two other dolphins, Bok-sun and Tae-san, finally followed Jae-Dol's way back home. I am trying to remember their faces and features because I'd really like to recognize them when I visit Jeju Island in this September for school retreat. |
