Cull town builds whale zoo

Taiji, the town made infamous for its annual slaughter of hundreds of dolphins in the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, is to build a whale zoo. Yet despite the move, officials say the cull will continue.

Local media reports say the town on Japan's Pacific coast plans to populate a 28-hectare marine mammal park with bottlenose dolphins and pilot and other small whales caught nearby.

The town has been the target of international criticism for almost a decade over the hunt, in which up to 2000 animals are killed for their meat or sold to aquariums and marine parks.

The meat from a single animal can fetch up to ¥50,000 ($A623), but aquariums have paid more than ¥10 million yen for certain types.

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