Wallonia faces the biggest animal-welfare rollback ever: Government wants to reauthorise dolphinariums
Brussels, 4 March 2026 – The Walloon Government is about to vote through the most serious animal-welfare setback Wallonia has ever seen. The Minister for Animal Welfare, Adrien Dolimont (MR), has included in his revision of the Walloon Animal Welfare Code a provision that would reauthorise—by way of an exemption—the keeping of cetaceans. The measure is on the agenda of this Thursday’s Council of Ministers.
For GAIA, this is a scandalous, incomprehensible step backwards—unworthy of a region that has claimed to be a pioneer in animal welfare. It would amount to the most severe regression ever recorded in this field. This U-turn may serve certain private commercial interests, but it certainly does not serve the interests of dolphins.
A political gift to Pairi Daiza
The office of Minister Dolimont confirmed to GAIA that this measure would benefit Pairi Daiza, under the guise of creating a “sanctuary”.
Calling a concrete pool inside a zoo a “sanctuary” is misleading. A concrete tank in a zoological park will never be a sanctuary. Dolphins belong in the wild. And for those still held captive in dolphinariums who can be relocated, their future must lie in genuine marine sanctuaries.
A marine sanctuary is located at sea, in a protected natural area, enabling captive dolphins to regain living conditions as close as possible to their natural environment. Several projects are already being developed worldwide, notably in Taranto (Italy), Baltimore (USA) and Lipsi (Greece).
Ann De Greef, GAIA’s Managing Director: “What the Walloon Government is preparing is a scandal. Reauthorising dolphinariums would be the biggest animal-welfare rollback we have ever seen. Dolphins would be sacrificed to satisfy private interests. Does Wallonia want to become the region of animal suffering?”
A decision out of step with international progress
Last year, Flanders definitively endorsed the end of dolphinariums in Belgium, based on clear scientific and ethical arguments showing that cetaceans’ complex needs cannot be met in captivity.
With that decision, Belgium joined countries such as India, Costa Rica, Chile, Croatia, Slovenia and Cyprus, which have already strictly banned the captivity of dolphins.
Most experts on dolphin welfare oppose keeping these marine mammals in captivity. International specialists such as Dr Lori Marino (The Whale Sanctuary Project), Dr Naomi Rose (Animal Welfare Institute) and Dr Hal Whitehead have shown that captivity inevitably undermines dolphins’ welfare—highly social animals with exceptional cognitive abilities.
Wallonia is now preparing to move in exactly the opposite direction.
Reineke Hameleers, CEO of Eurogroup for Animals: “Dolphinariums belong to the past. Europe must move towards animal-welfare–friendly solutions such as marine sanctuaries, not back to outdated models. The science is clear: dolphins’ physical, social and cognitive needs cannot be met in captivity.”
A decision that tarnishes Jane Goodall’s legacy
Jane Goodall, the world-renowned ethologist and United Nations Messenger of Peace, stood alongside GAIA in the fight to ban dolphinariums in Belgium. She championed a clear ethical principle: highly intelligent animals must not be condemned to a life of confinement for entertainment.
Dr Koen Margodt, Chair of the Jane Goodall Institute’s dolphin expert committee: “Dr Jane Goodall was firmly convinced that dolphins do not belong in captivity. She asked me to set up a panel of experts to help facilitate their transfer from concrete pools to coastal marine sanctuaries. These magnificent, intelligent marine mammals deserve nothing less than vast, complex natural environments.”
Dolphins: sentient animals with complex needs
Dolphins are sensitive, intelligent and deeply social marine mammals. In the wild, they can travel up to 100 kilometres a day and dive beyond 200 metres. Their natural habitat is vast, complex and stimulating.
In captivity, they are confined to artificial pools thousands of times smaller than their natural range. Deprived of freedom and exposed to an impoverished environment, they develop chronic stress and stereotypic behaviours. Their social and cognitive needs cannot be met. Dolphinariums are structurally incapable of meeting these animals’ ethological requirements.
GAIA urges the Walloon Government to reconsider
GAIA calls on the Walloon Government to withdraw this exemption and uphold the spirit of the Walloon Animal Welfare Code.
Dolphins belong in the ocean. For those already held captive, the future must be genuine marine sanctuaries. Wallonia can choose to stand on the side of scientific progress, ethics and respect for living beings—or it can vote for the most serious animal-welfare rollback.
GAIA also urges the public to mobilise and has launched a platform enabling citizens to contact the Walloon Government directly via stop-delphinariums.be.