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Bali hosts centre to return dolphins to the wild

Bali’s dolphin rehabilitation center

rescues dolphins like Rambo

who was confined to a chlorinated pool

and forced to entertain tourists

This project will help him return to the wild

(SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF DOLPHIN PROJECT, RIC O'BARRY, SAYING:

"Well, it's very exciting. It's been 50 years in the making. It's the first dolphin sanctuary anywhere in the world. And it's a model, it can be duplicated. We're trying to do that in Europe as well, in Italy and in Crete. So there needs to be many small sanctuaries in places where dolphinariums have closed down and a compatible group of dolphins can go there to be evaluated for release back into the wild.

over 3,000 dolphins were in captivity last year

across 336 entertainment venues

Source: World Animal Protection

generating up to $5.5 billion annually

(SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF DOLPHIN PROJECT, RIC O'BARRY, SAYING:

"The captivity industry, it's a multi-billion dollar industry. They don't want sanctuaries to happen. Sanctuaries make them look bad because their dolphins are all in stadiums. So you have to you have to get cooperation from the government, for one thing. And we have that in Indonesia."