I visited Bioparc Fuengirola on a trip to Spain in May 2014. I went with my family and it's a great place to visit for a few hours. I think we spent about 3-4 hours there but you could do the whole thing in two hours or so! It's easy for prams to get around and we saw lots of family groups with young kids and grandparents in tow.
I would recommend taking the lemur tour which runs hourly from the big Baobab tree and is on a first come, first served basis. You don't get many chances in life to get close to lemurs!
The plant life, layout and design of the parc is great. I like the way they have used bamboo and wood to create the enclosures. My dad made friends through the glass with one of these Fulvous Whistling Duck.
You can get close to many of the animals in the enclosures. I think the bird enclosure was my favourite. You can walk through and the birds are roaming throughout the space.
It's in this area we also saw the famous baby Java mouse-deer also known as SUPER CUTE TEENY TINY DEER. Here's a picture of one of the parents having a wee (I always manage to capture special moments with my camera). The newborn was hiding in the corner so I couldn't get a photo.
I've written about zoo's and attractions before on my previous blog. I don't like seeing animals in captivity especially animals like chimps, orangutans, big cats and gorillas. I do know they do play a role in conservation and awareness but I am not sure where the line between exploitation and education is. I'm not an expert in this area and I would like to hear from anyone who can share information about how the bioparc operates and performs on their care of animals and feeds back into conservation efforts. Is there a rating system for zoos?
There is a striking information point in the middle of the park that shows images of animals housed in small concrete cafés in zoos (possibly Fuengirola zoo) and how zoos have moved on from that era. Still, seeing a tiger pacing up and down its enclosure still feels a bit sad to me.
The parc has many interesting species of ducks, birds, bats (fox bat!) and deer. Various snakes, turtles, tortoises, crocodiles (including a Pygmy one). Also, a Pygmy hippo which was hiding sleeping user a bridge so I didn't take a photo. There was only one spider at the zoo, like most places they could make more of their creepy crawlie and bug section.
The parc has lots of trees so is mostly shaded which you will be thankful for if you visit in the summer heat! We used some of the big leaves to shelter from the rain (rain in SPAIN)!
The cafe at the parc is good and reasonably priced for a tourist attraction. I had a bioparc sandwich which had salad, mayo and chicken sandwiched between 3 slices of toast with a soft fried egg poking through.
The park is easily walkable (5mins) and is signposted from the train station in Fuengirola. The park is open every day other than Christmas but the opening times vary based on the season. See the website for full details.
Special night time park visits run in July and August.
It's €17.90 for an adult ticket but there are concession and children's rates available. You can also buy yearly passes to the zoo.
