About half of the dolphins caught in drive hunts in western Japan were exported to China and other countries despite criticism of the technique by an international association of aquariums, data confirmed by Kyodo News show.
Drive hunting is a practice that has been used for decades in the coastal town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture. It has been criticized as cruel, recently forcing the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums to ban members from acquiring dolphins captured using the technique, which uses sound to drive the animals into a killing zone.
JAZA issued the ban last month after the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums threatened to expel it should members continue purchasing such dolphins.