Head to Spain’s east coast, and you’ll come across the city of Valencia. The city’s Turia River flows into the Mediterranean Sea, and its climate attracts millions of visitors year on year. Packed with attractions and beaches, Valencia is a place that you should visit and savour.
One attraction which you must see when you are here is the Bioparc. Great for children and adults, the Bioparc is a 10-hectare zoo in the middle of the city.
Animals and Conservation
The Valencia Bioparc recreates the animals’ habitats and living patterns as if they were living in Africa as closely as possible. This includes the great wetlands, savannah, and the equatorial forest.
The Valencia Bioparc team has tried to recreate an environment that allows the animals to develop socially as if they were living in the wild. To give you an example, the team has put together multispecies enclosures where animals that would naturally live together and coexist in the wild do so here.
This is important for reproduction and conservation, and it gives you a greater understanding of how ecosystems work and how each element fits together. Getting this right is mission-critical for the zoo to thrive and fulfill its conservation aims.
This is strongly emphasised by VisitValencia, who points out that the Bioparc in Valencia has real educational value.
Animal Diversity
An astonishing aspect is the diversity of species in the zoo. They have over 150 different African species. Considering you’ll see these animals in an almost perfect replica of their natural habitat when you visit Valencia, a European city is quite amazing.
Examples of habitats include:
- Dry Savannah – Here, you’ll get to see zebras, hyenas, rhinoceros, and ostriches.
- Wetlands – This habitat is home to lions, meerkats, giraffes, antelopes, and gazelles.
- Madagascar – Lemurs may well greet you, and in the Kitum cave recreation, you’ll find crocodiles and hippopotamus.
- Equatorial Africa – This is often a visitor favourite as it features gorillas. You’ll also see leopards, python, and otters.
Location of the Bioparc, Valencia
When you visit Valencia head towards the Cabecera Park which was the original river bed of the Turia river.
In 1957, the river flooded, causing widespread damage throughout the city. To prevent this from happening again, the river was diverted around Valencia. The riverbed became habitable for the first time and was converted into Cabecera Park.
The park is simply amazing and is home to the Bioparc.
When you book your visit to the zoo, you should also spend time seeing the attractions in Cabecera Park. You can hire cycles and get around, which is a lovely way to take it all in.
It is advisable that when you visit Valencia, you book every attraction online in advance. It avoids queues and disappointment. It is no fun discovering after a few hours of queuing that you can’t get into your chosen attraction.
Make sure when you visit it with your friends you come to the Bioparc. It will almost make you feel like you’re in Africa.