TORONTO - The Ontario government has announced guidelines for marine mammals in captivity that includes a ban on breeding and acquiring killer whales.
The details are outlined in a government-commissioned report by David Rosen, a marine biologist with the University of British Columbia.
The report also says new standards of care will be brought in for whales, dolphins, walruses, seals and other marine mammals kept in captivity in the province.
The province says standards will include pool sizes, noise limits around the animals, water quality and appropriate social groupings, and will be developed by a committee that is to report back within six months.
Minister for Community Safety and Correctional Services Yasir Naqvi, who is in charge of animal welfare in the province, says the new regulations are the right thing to do.
The only killer whale in captivity in Ontario lives at Marineland in Niagara Falls.
