Intended to house the dolphins from Marineland Antibes and Planète Sauvage, the ZooParc de Beauval dolphinarium project is at the heart of a controversy. Contested by several animal protection associations, the project also faces the question of its financing. A decision is expected before the start of the school year.
The future of the dolphins from Marineland Antibes remains uncertain. While eight cetaceans left the Alpes-Maritimes a few days ago to join Spain, the project to create a dolphinarium at ZooParc de Beauval, in Loir-et-Cher, is experiencing a new setback.
Designed to eventually house the 23 dolphins from Marineland Antibes and Planète Sauvage, this future facility represents an investment estimated at 45 million euros. A sum that the park’s director, Rodolphe Delord, finds difficult to assume without stronger commitment from the State.
In an interview with Le Parisien, Rodolphe Delord recalls that “This project was born at the request of the French government.” All administrative authorizations are said to have already been obtained. The question of financing remains.
The director of Beauval indicates he must make a choice in the coming weeks. “I have to put other Beauval projects on hold in the meantime, and I won’t be able to do that much longer. I am still waiting, I must make my decisions in the coming weeks,” explains Rodolphe Delord, with the objective of deciding “before the start of the school year.”
Even without financial guarantees, Rodolphe Delord assures that he understands the current context. “I understand that the government has other priorities than today. There are still many issues in France and in the world, and it’s not just about saving these 23 dolphins,” while hoping for “possibly financial participation, or at least more support from the State.”
Associations continue to denounce the project
As the director of Beauval calls for public support, several animal protection associations maintain their opposition to the future dolphinarium. A demonstration was organized on Saturday, August 1st in front of the Saint-Aignan zoo to denounce a project considered incompatible with the welfare of cetaceans.
This mobilization comes a few days after the transfer of eight of the twelve dolphins from Marineland Antibes to the Selwo Marina dolphinarium, near Malaga. The operation, conducted on the night of July 22-23 under state supervision, constitutes a temporary solution pending a final decision on the future of the animals.
The four remaining dolphins still present in Antibes are to soon join the Oceanogràfic in Valencia. Ultimately, the objective envisaged remains to bring together all the cetaceans within the future Beauval center, whose opening was planned for late 2027.
Since their arrival in Spain, several organizations, including Sea Shepherd and Tilikum Spirit, have been closely monitoring the health of the animals. The two NGOs have released images showing, according to their observations, adaptation difficulties for some dolphins.
Christine Ringuet, president of Tilikum Spirit, notably states that “everyone is doing well except Dam,” referring to an animal that remains still and feeds with difficulty. For its part, Sea Shepherd is concerned about the consequences of transport, changes in water temperature, and the separation of certain family groups.
In a video published by the association, cetacean ethology researcher Agnès Benet believes that “the accumulation of these factors represents a significant physiological ordeal for an animal as sensitive as the dolphin.” The NGOs also denounce the condition of the Spanish dolphinarium pools, which they consider degraded, fueling a debate that now extends beyond just the future of the dolphins from Marineland Antibes.
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