I have just returned from my 10th(or so) visit to the bioparc and thought I would give people my humble thoughts and views of this new zoo. The zoo seems to be growing well and the staff and admin are growing with it. Having recently visited Vienna Zoo there are some strking differences between the two. The most obvious difference is that the Bioparc is very open and airy, there are vast areas with animals running freely together, within the enclosures there is not as much foliage as in Vienna, this makes it much easier to see the wildlife but obviously provides them with less cover, however being brand new you cannot expect foliage to grow overnight and we will have to see how this develops in the future. There are also many more viewing areas for each enclosure, again making it easier to see the animals (which after all is the main purpose of a zoo). The biggest difference for me is the public, perhaps because of the design or maybe because of its newness but even at peak times there are not the crowds that you see in Vienna. I was horrified to visit the Panda enclosure and see the public 10 deep clamouring to take flash photos of the new baby, banging on the window to grab its attention... and this happened in many enclosures. This would not be allowed to happen at Valencia as there are always staff patrolling to prevent the public from behaving badly. In the Lemur enclosure where they roam freely around the visitors there is always a keeper at the door to explain the rules, remove chewing gum, food, drink, and emphasise the need for care; then inside the enclosure there is always at least one park keeper to ensure there are no problems. Onto the animals at the Bioparc, many seem to be settling in well, there are several new baby Lemurs on display, I spotted a new baby Besbok this week, the baby chimpanzee is happily playing away in its enclosure as was the baby elephant. This week for the first time we saw some Camels, 3 adults one juvenile and a very young one. The Gorillas are still settling in. The big male has not ventured out of his cave but stands at the door watching. The zoo has erected a temporary barrier to stop any visitors coming right up to the glass which is good to see. All in all I love the Bioparc, I´m sure its not perfect but its continually developing, all the animals look well cared for, the place is spotlessly clean and it offers the best coffee shop in Europes, looking out onto the Savannah! If anyone is interested I have loads of photos of the animals but very few of the actual enclosures, just ask.
Hi, Yes the three gorillas are in the same large enclosure. The two females seem to have settled in OK and roam around the enclosure freely but, to my knowledge, the male has not come fully out of the cave yet.
Thanks. I asked because one of the females(Dorle) is pretty old and I wasn't sure if she would integrate with the two younger ones. I would expect Mambi, the male, to come out of the cave sooner or later- he has lived in open enclosures previously.
Hi Pete, thank-you for your review. Maybe on your next visit you might take some pictures of the enclosures? Especially the Gorillas I have looked at the web site all in Spanish! It looks very good. Interesting to be surronded it seems by apartment buldings. Wake up and see the zoo! I would like to see that.
I would also like to see more enclosure pics. Only if I could travel to Spain, but that will probably not happen until I finish college.
^^ Like this? is the new "bai" (main gorilla & chimp´ and others species enclosure opened in July) in the Equatorial Africa section. Elephants & baobabs (only one part of this large enclosure)
What's with the hippo enclosure! In the picture it looks "bad" compared to the rest of the pics. I thought bioparc was all new?
^^ The hippo enclosure show in the pic is not from bioparc, there is the old enclosure in "zoo viveros" provisional installation for 43 years.The new hippos enclosure at bioparc is under construction, it basically consist in a pond inside one cave, with bats and maybe, Nile crocodiles in other pond, (crocs. are not sure)
Zoo Doue la Fontaine in France has recently added the word bioparc added to its title. Are the two zoos connected in any way?
Definitely no! in Italy you can found the "bioparco" in Rome and probably in others countries too, but Bioparc Valencia, is promoted, built and operate by a spainsh company, Rainforest diseño S.L.(RFD) they too re-build and operate since 1995 the Fuengirola zoo at the Costa del Sol (sun coast) (Malaga province) Spain, dedicated at rainforest habitats.RFD design and built "coffee shops" in USA the Animal Kingdom (Florida) was first.I think Fuengirola zoo link (english) Zoo Fuengirola
Today in my latest visit to Bioparc I see a "new species" for me in the zoo, a orange beaver/red bishop (Euplectes oryx) in the Kopje aviary.And cubs of spot-necked otter,banned mongoose and dwarf mongoose, baby's impala's too. The spurred tortoises has moved to her new exhibit, a grassy paddock in front of Kitum cave,whose construction process, which finally seems to be ready in a month, more or less. No confirmation by any keeper ,but "Dorley" the older gorilla female seems pregnant... waiting news.
Does anyone here have the "key statistics" on the Valencia Bioparc? That is: (a) Number of Species (b) Number of Specimens (c) Size -- hectacres (d) Annual Attendance Thanks!!
