Dolfinarium Harderwijk
| Dolfinarium Harderwijk | ||
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| place | Strandboulevard Oost 1 3841 AB Harderwijk The Netherlands |
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| opening | 1965 | |
| Visitor numbers | 586,300 (2016) | |
| organization | ||
| Sponsorship | Aspro Parks | |
 Entrance to the Dolfinarium Harderwijk |
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| Dolfinarium Harderwijk | ||
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Coordinates: 52 ° 21 ′ 14 " N , 5 ° 37 ′ 3" E
The Dolfinarium Harderwijk in Harderwijk is one of the world's largest theme parks that specialize in marine mammals ( dolphinarium ).
history
In 1963, the entrepreneur Frits den Herder started collecting marine mammals. He set up the first dolphinarium in the Netherlands. In 1965 it was opened to the public.
In 2001 the Dolfinarium was taken over by the French amusement park chain Grévin & Cie . The Dolfinarium and the French amusement park Walibi Sud-Ouest sold this to the Spanish Aspro Parks Group for 18 million euros in 2014 .
The Dolfinarium left the scientific association of Dutch zoos, the NVD , in 2019 , as it would like to develop more in the direction of an amusement park in the future. The European zoo association EAZA also left the Dolfinarium in 2019.
Animal species
Various types of whales , such as dolphins ( bottlenose dolphins ) and porpoises , seal species such as sea lions ( Steller sea lions and California sea lions ), walruses and seals , as well as some smaller fish species are kept. The dolphinarium has set itself the goal of housing primarily endangered species and of breeding those recommended by the European breeding program. The lagoon-like facilities for whale-like species are remarkable.
For several months in 2010, the dolphinarium housed a young killer whale named Morgan , who was half-starved and found alone on the Dutch coast.
Aqualand water park
The operator, the Spanish ASPRO Group , which in addition to the Dolfinarium Harderwijk also operates various water parks in several European countries, has been building the first Aqualand water park in the Netherlands in the immediate vicinity of the Dolfinarium Harderwijk since mid-2016. Aqualand is a registered trademark of the ASPRO Group, which currently includes 16 water parks. The construction of the water park at Dolfinarium Harderwijk is divided into two construction phases, the first of which should be completed in summer 2017.
With the construction of the water park, the ASPRO Group is responding to criticism from animal rights activists who regularly speak out against keeping dolphins in dolphinariums. In the years to come, people want to focus more on attractions and education than on shows and demonstrations with animals. That is why the number of dolphins was reduced significantly in 2016.
Web links
- Official website (German, Dutch, English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Visitor numbers for 2016. (Dutch), on destentor.nl, accessed on April 5, 2017
- ^ Dolfinarium Harderwijk stapt uit vereniging van dierentuinen. De Stentor, January 2, 2019.
- ↑ Zooquaria 105 (summer 2019), p. 5.
- ↑ First concept for new water park published. (Dutch), from looopings.nl, January 30, 2017, accessed June 10, 2017