AmBioblitz 2023

On April 21, the AmBioBlitz Biodiversity marathon event held at the University of Almería, took place for another year with the participation, as every year, of the Oasys MiniHollywood theme park.

Both the Department of Education and the Department of Conservation of the Oasys park were present at this event, holding a workshop with students from the different schools in the province of Almería.

In the workshop called ¨Feather and Flight¨ a presentation was made on the ¨in situ¨ Conservation Project of the Ganga Ortega (Pterocles orientalis) carried out by the Oasys MiniHollywood Park, the Junta de Andalucía and Olivos Araújo, which with the captive breeding of this critically endangered species in the province of Almería, tries to increase the number of specimens of this precious species doomed to disappear due to the action of man and destruction of its natural habitat, for a possible release and reintroduction in the habitat from which they originate under controlled conditions after an acclimatization process.

The university campus hosted one of the largest science events in the province, where CECOUAL, in joint collaboration with different researchers, environmental professionals, students, as well as Oasys MiniHollywood, tried to teach the public the different ecosystems and their species.

The coordinators of the Department of Education explained to the students the entire process of breeding, feeding, nest formation, plumage, and the development process of the young animals until they became adults and were incorporated into the project.

The students also learned to differentiate the food necessary for the correct development of the birds, the preparation of their nests, and the difficulty of obtaining food in the wild.

One of the fundamental pillars of the Oasys MiniHollywood Education Department is education in the Environment and the Conservation of species, something that constitutes an essential task for the survival of Biodiversity. At the Oasys MiniHollywood park we have more than 80 captive breeding programs for threatened or critically endangered species.

Once again, Oasys MiniHollywood participates in the cultural and educational development of the province of Almería.

With fewer than two hundred in the wild, Somali wild asses are on the brink of the abyss. Critically endangered in its native habitat due to poaching and overexploitation of its habitat by man, this precious species is dying in the wild. The few specimens present in the wild are distributed throughout Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia, and it is extinct in Sudan and Egypt.

For this reason, the Captive Breeding Program in European Zoos, including Oasys MiniHollywood, is of vital importance for the Conservation of the species.

In Spain, only four institutions participate in the EEP (Conservation Program) for this species, due to the complexity of its maintenance and the scarcity of available specimens.

The new  Somali Wild Ass baby (Equus africanus somaliensis) born in Oasys, a male, has been named Matumaini which means hope in Swahili, as it will be essential for the continuation of captive breeding and perpetuation of its species.

During the gestation period, which lasted almost a year, his mother had difficulties that made us fear for the baby’s life, but finally this precious specimen was born without complications, weighing around 30 kg.

He will remain with the mother for at least the first two years of life before the Species Coordinator finds a new destination for him with females with which he is not genetically related in order to have offspring and thus contribute to the perpetuation of the species.

Oasys MiniHollywood actively participates in the protection of endangered species, in more than 90 European endangered species programs in what is called «ex situ» Conservation, trying to guarantee the survival of these threatened animals.

Equally important are the «in situ» Conservation programs, carried out in the habitats of origin, with actions in International Projects of great importance that benefit all Biodiversity as well as critically endangered and most threatened species on the planet. .

With populations of wild animals dwindling mainly due to human action, habitat loss, poaching, and climate change, the work of Zoo Conservation, like ours, is the last barrier to the disappearance of species. The fundamental pillar where maintaining a stable and controlled genetics that will allow us to maintain healthy populations and the future possibility of reintroducing these animals in their original habitats.

Between 1 and 2% of amphibians, birds, and mammals have already gone extinct, and from now on it will only get worse. More than a million species of plants and animals are critically endangered.

For this reason, the birth of Matumaini at Oasys MiniHollywood has been an immense joy for the entire team of veterinary professionals, biologists and specialized keepers who work every day for the Conservation of animals and nature.