A struggling Hong Kong theme park has said it will end its controversial dolphin and sea lion shows but will continue to allow visitors to hug a dolphin, drawing criticism from animal rights groups.

Ocean Park said on Monday it would replace the daily shows at its flagship enclosure with "underwater viewing opportunities" for visitors.

"Under the new plan, the Ocean Wonder show will cease," said Leo Kung, chairman of Ocean Park.

However, the park said it would continue to allow visitors to pay to feed and pose with the dolphins in the water.

Ocean Park's captive animal shows and dolphin-petting activities have long been criticised by the animal rights community.

Dolphins suffer physically and mentally from life in captivity, according to the Born Free Foundation which also says on its website that physical interactions with the public are "highly stressful" for the animals.

"Ocean Park's decision to end its dolphin shows but to keep the animals as a tourist gimmick is a missed ethical and financial opportunity," said Jason Baker, vice president of PETA.

Hong Kong non-profit organisation Animal Rights Education said in a Facebook statement the move was an important step, but urged the park to gradually end marine animal captivity.

According to the park's annual report, it had 7,600 animals including 63 marine mammals, 59 terrestrial mammals, 454 birds and others.

The amusement park has suffered an "unprecedented steep decline" in visitors of more than 30 percent since pro-democracy protests broke out in the financial hub last summer, the South China Morning Post recently reported.

Hong Kong's government is planning to help the park with a HK$10.6 billion (US$1.4 billion) cash injection.

Aside from replacing the Ocean Theatre, the park also aims to add 26 new rides as part of a plan to transform it into an adventure-themed attraction.

Tiger footage spurs hope for Thai big cat population
Bangkok (AFP) Jan 14, 2020 - A male tiger noses the bloodied carcass of its latest kill in a Thai national park, extraordinary footage conservationists are hailing as a rare spot of good news for the endangered big cats.

The species has teetered on the brink of extinction across the Mekong region due to deforestation and demand for its striking pelts and body parts in traditional medicine.

But a pocket of forest split between Thailand and Myanmar -- known as the Dawna Tenasserim -- has become a holdout for the big cat.

Sightings of wild tigers are rare, but Thailand remains "one of the last strongholds" for them in Southeast Asia, WWF said Monday.

Camera traps placed in Thailand's Mae Wong National Park in western Kamphaeng Phet province captured in late December a tiger circling a dead wild gaur, known to be the world's largest bovine.

"Even for tigers, killing a gaur is not an easy task," WWF-Thailand's Rungnapa Phoonjampa said, explaining the existence of large forest prey is a good sign for the health and survival of the area's tigers.

WWF has been tracking the tiger -- named "MKM8" -- since 2014.

Over the course of two weeks, the tiger returned to the gaur to feed.

The national park is a part of Thailand's tiger recovery plan, which includes trying to increase the population of large prey like gaur and sambar.

The park sits within the 18 million-hectare Dawna Tenasserim, which WWF says houses about eight different cat species that range from vulnerable to critically endangered.

Other rare species recorded there include the Asiatic golden cat and the leopard cat.

WWF estimates about 180-220 tigers survive in Dawna Tenasserim, considered a sizable population with less than 4,000 remaining in the wild globally.

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Protect 30% of planet by 2030: UN Nature rescue plan
Paris (AFP) Jan 13, 2020
Thirty percent of Earth's surface across land and sea should become protected areas by 2030 to ensure the viability of ecosystems essential to human wellbeing, according to a UN plan released Monday. The draft proposal to halt the degradation of Nature and the gathering pace of species loss will be vetted by nearly 200 countries gathering in October for a make-or-break biodiversity summit, the 15th since 1994. Up to now, UN targets to safeguard or restore ecosystems have failed for lack of polit ... read more