Vaquita, Lahille's bottlenose dolphin and the Franciscana dolphin, all of these small cetacean species are highly endangered and threatened with extinction.
To draw attention to this, we organized a species protection week for endangered whales and dolphins at Nuremberg Zoo from 1 to 7 July. In our permanent exhibition, you can get to know various endangered species of small cetaceans using models.
On Saturday, we screened the documentary "Sea of Shadows", which is about saving the last vaquitas, as part of Species Protection Week. In this context, Dr. Lorenzo von Fersen (1st Chairman of YAQU PACHA e.V.) spoke about the threat to small whale species and presented our conservation projects.
The vaquita(Phocoena sinus), also known as the Californian harbor porpoise, is the most endangered marine mammal in the world. It is estimated that there are only around 9 vaquitas left. Through education, strict enforcement of fishing regulations and the promotion of sustainable fishing practices, YAQU PACHA is helping to conserve the vaquita's habitat in the Gulf of California.
In addition to the bycatch problem, climate change is one of the biggest threats to whales and dolphins.
The children's and youth group of the Nuremberg Zoo Friends Association, the TierEntdecker, prepared an exhibition on these topics and informed visitors about these important issues. We would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to the TierEntdecker for their fantastic work and great support during our species conservation week at Nuremberg Zoo.