Life on Earth depends on healthy ecosystems, such as freshwater ecosystems. Wetlands, rivers, mangroves, and aquifers are a critical part of the global water cycle: they supply, purify and protect resources.
Animals need it for their bodies to function, not only through drinking but also through the food they eat and daily habits such as, for example, a simple bath. And this natural and vital resource plays a fundamental role in guaranteeing the welfare of the animals housed at BIOPARC Fuengirola.
During the hottest months, BIOPARC Fuengirola works daily to ensure the well-being of its residents. Although many of them like the heat, they have special protocols that ensure that the more than two hundred different species they house are at healthy and comfortable temperatures.
These hot days require good advance planning. Keeping an eye on weather forecasts and developing a plan for these high temperatures is essential to ensure that the animals have enough shade and water on those days. Most importantly, every animal that inhabits your rainforests has access to clean, fresh water twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
Most of the facilities have estuaries, waterfalls, bathing areas or artificial beaches that can be accessed. Thanks to these resources, animals can access water if they need it. In addition to these means, the temperature of the water and the facilities of each of the animals is controlled, for example, using diffusers to provide them with cooling water vapour, thus controlling both humidity and temperature. As well as the interior spaces, which are kept ventilated and cool.
A complete circuit of estuaries for the animal’s enjoyment
BIOPARC Fuengirola has a complete water circuit made up of authentic rivers and waterfalls. More than 2,200 cubic metres of fresh drinkable water, filtered mechanically and naturally, dispensing with any type of chemical product that prevents life in them. In these estuaries, the animals, as mentioned above, enjoy baths, allow them to cool off in summer, hydrate and, of course, are indispensable for their lives, as in the case of hippos, ducks, or crocodiles, among others.
In addition, these lively and oxygenated estuaries, through the numerous waterfalls that make up the circuit, are stimulating for many species. With hundreds of live fish, they promote the development of the instincts of other animals. Their well-being is a priority for the entire BIOPARC Fuengirola team.