NL: Dolfinarium Harderwijk Announces Transformation Plans to Become Modern Zoo

During a press conference, the Dolfinarium in Harderwijk, a zoological facility specialized in marine mammals, just announced its transformation plans to become a modern zoo. The planned changes include the addition of further leisure attractions such as two water playgrounds, in order to make a visit to Dolfinarium even more attractive for families.  

The park, which is operated by the Spanish Aspro Group, will also change its concept for animal shows in the future. The shows will be turned into an educational program, meaning that the animals will not perform tricks anymore but show their natural behaviour. “Unnatural behavior” will only to be shown if it has an important benefit for taking care of the animals, e.g. the opening of the mouth to check the teeth. In addition to the “Dolphin Brain” and “Shark Bay” education rooms that were established in 2018 and 2019, visitors will receive even more information about the natural habitat of the various marine mammals. The transfer of twelve of the park’s animals to other zoological facilities will provide more space for the remaining animals in their enclosures and tanks. All realms are to receive natural decoration elements in the future. An agreement with the EAAM (European Association for Aquatic Mammals) also states that the tanks will be enlarged from 2029.

Also, Dolfinarium’s attractions portfolio already includes the “Aqualand” water park, which was realized in two construction phases and completed in 2019 with three giant Polin slides (cf. EAP 1/2020). (eap)