The New Zealand government has banned tourists from swimming with bottlenose dolphins in an attempt to save the struggling species.

According to the department of conservation [DoC] research has shown that humans were “loving the dolphins too much” and human interaction was “having a signifiant impact on the populations resting and feeding behaviour”.

The ban on swimming with bottlenose dolphins applies to tour operators in the North Island’s Bay of Islands region, which is popular with tourists for its warm climate and golden beaches. Other dolphin tours that interact with different species of dolphin in other parts of the country are still permitted.

Bottlenose dolphins prefer to swim in coastal regions, making them vulnerable to human activity, and their numbers in the Bay of Islands have declined by 66% since 1990, according to DoC.

A core group of only 19 bottlenose dolphins visit the region regularly now, and the latest reports show a 75% mortality rate among their calves – the highest seen both in New Zealand, internationally and in captivity.

Alongside banning tourist swims with bottlenose dolphins, DoC have stipulated that tour operators may interact with the dolphins only for periods of 20 minutes (reduced from 30 minutes) at a time, and all tour operators will be restricted to visiting either morning or afternoon, in order to provide a block of time where the dolphins are left alone.

The possibility of creating a marine mammal sanctuary in the Bay of Islands is also being investigated by DoC, research partners and local Māori tribes.

Tour operators in the Bay of Plenty have raised concerns about the impact the new ban will have on tourism numbers, and said less tour operators on the water will mean fewer eyes watching out for how private boats interact with the vulnerable population.

Tourists can still swim with common or dusky dolphins in tours operated in the South Island. </s> Tourists are to be banned from swimming with charismatic dolphins in one of New Zealand’s most famous holiday destinations in a bid to protect the struggling species from too much attention.

Research shows people are "loving the dolphins too much" in the Bay of Islands, north of Auckland.

Boat trips offering passengers a chance to frolic with fast-moving, playful pods have been axed because of sharply falling numbers.

The population of bottlenose dolphins in a region known for its golden beaches and warm climate has crashed from 270 in 1999 to a current estimate of 31, a fall of almost 90 per cent.

A study by New Zealand’s Department of Conservation (DoC) has shown that human interaction was “having a significant impact on the population’s resting and feeding behaviour”.

A core group of only 19 bottlenose dolphins regularly visit the Bay of Islands, and the latest reports show a 75 percent mortality rate among their calves – the highest seen both in New Zealand and internationally, in the wild and in captivity.

Swimming with some of nature’s most intelligent creatures has been a thrill for many visitors to New Zealand’s subtropical North Island. Bottlenose dolphins travel in social groups and communicate by a complex system of squeaks and whistles. </s> Environment Minister Segolene Royal had on Wednesday signed a version of the legislation introducing "tight controls on the reproduction of dolphins", her ministry said in a statement.

But she has since decided the rules need to be "more radical", her ministry told AFP on Saturday, particularly after learning that "some animals were drugged" in aquariums.

The new rules ban the captivity of all whales, dolphins and porpoises, except for orcas and bottlenose dolphins already held in authorised aquariums.

"In plain terms, this means the end of breeding, exchange and import programmes," five conservation groups including One Voice and Sea Shepherd said in a joint statement.

"Without possible replenishment, this quite simply means the scheduled end of marine circuses on our territory."

But the move sparked anger from Jon Kershaw, head of the Marineland Antibes dolphin show park in southern France, who told the Var-Matin newspaper it was a "bombshell" for establishments like his.

The new rules notably also require "an increase of at least 150 percent of pools to allow the animals to live in less proximity from visitors and other animals", the ministry said, as well as banning chlorine in treating the water.

Direct contact between the animals and the public is also now forbidden.

Water parks and aquariums have six months to conform to the new rules, and a three-year deadline for expanding their pools.

Parks such as Marineland Antibes—the biggest attraction of its kind in Europe—have faced growing criticism in recent years over their animals' living conditions.

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New Zealand bans tourists from swimming with bottlenose dolphins, saying dwindling numbers are linked to excessive interaction with tourists, as the animals choose socialising with people over necessary biological functions. Authorities say the species risks "being loved into extinction".