VANCOUVER -- A controversial practice by the Vancouver Aquarium has a new lease on life after a motion to ban the captive breeding of whales, dolphins and porpoises was defeated.
The Vancouver Park Board voted late Monday against ending the program allowing the cetacean population to multiply naturally at the popular tourist attraction.
Members of the board instead decided to hold more consultations on proposed changes to the breeding bylaw, and to form an oversight committee.
Commissioner Constance Barnes, who had hoped to halt the program, says the committee will nonetheless hold the Vancouver Aquarium accountable by ensuring reports are made on how many animals are being bred and where.
The board was voting on whether to approve the amended bylaw that would have prohibited breeding, except for threatened species, following months of debate and public outcry around the aquarium's program.
Members of Mayor Gregor Robertson's Vision Vancouver party had dominated the board and wanted to make breeding extinct, but elections earlier this month shifted the board's composition to a majority of members from the opposition Non-Partisan Association, who favour saving the program.
