Once again this year, Oasys MiniHollywood is collaborating in the «Lechuza Project» together with CECOUAL of the University of Almeria (UAL), the Society for the Study and Recovery of Almeria’s Biodiversity (SERBAL), the Group for the Rehabilitation of Native Fauna and its Habitat (GREFA) and the Rodalquilar Botanical Garden. This year, the presentation of the project took place in the recently inaugurated Natural History Pavilion of the UAL.

For the fifth year the barn owl (Tyto alba) chicks, protagonists of a large Conservation Programme whose aim is the repopulation of this species in the province of Almeria using the hacking technique, have just arrived from the hand of GREFA. This year, the eight chicks, aged between 30 and 40 days, will be distributed between the UAL and the Rodalquilar Botanical Garden for their distribution throughout the province.

Since the beginning of the project, a total of 36 owl chicks have been released, all of them bred in captivity from irrecoverable specimens that cannot be returned to the wild.

With this project, carried out since 2018, the aim is to raise awareness so that everyone can learn about the importance of the Conservation Programmes for endangered species such as the barn owl. This is on the List of Wildlife Species under Special Protection Regime at a national level, as its populations have been affected by the degradation of its habitat and the disappearance of sustainable agriculture. This has progressively increased the area of development of industrial agriculture and the use of chemical products, which in turn has led to the disappearance of the birds’ natural prey.

The control of the growth of the chicks will be monitored through surveillance cameras that will allow to see their evolution. As well as the first exploration flights near the nest boxes. Until once they feel safe they emancipate by their own will, in search of new territories and reinforcing the autochthonous population.

Oasys MiniHollywood collaborates with «Proyecto Lechuza» from the beginnings to reinforce the population of this species in the province of Almeria, as well as in many other conservation and nature protection projects.

A renovation that is part of a master plan with major new developments until 2026

With the summer season just started, thousands of families are expected to arrive this summer at the well-known western theme park. An «oasis» in the middle of the desert of Tabernas (Almeria), which is more than ready to welcome everyone with a large aquatic area and lots of trees throughout the enclosure.

One of the big questions that visitors ask themselves, especially repeat visitors or those who have their annual pass, is what new features they will be able to enjoy each new season.

This summer is full of good news, such as the refurbishment of the Grill-Mirador Okavango. Now, a restaurant with grilled meats and a refined touch but with a western essence.

The immediate novelty this summer is the renovation of the three museums in the Western Village area: the cinema museum, the carriage museum and the vintage car museum.

The pioneer was the cinema museum, one of the best in Spain in terms of original material. It has been modernised with large, well-lit posters in Spanish and English.

Before the end of June, the museum of western wagons will also be finished. To which will be added the illustrated history of Oasys MiniHollywood from its origin in 1974 until 2023.

In addition, the new vintage car museum area will be inaugurated, with cars such as the Seat 600 or the Ford Bus 17.

These three museum buildings are a great complement to the theme park and the zoological reserve, making Oasys MiniHollywood the largest park dedicated to the American West in Andalusia, in southern Spain.

Last Friday 9th June was the inauguration of the Natural History Pavilion, located opposite the Technical Scientific Building V of the University of Almeria.

The event was attended by local authorities and businessmen, including José María Rossell Recasens, founder and president of Senator Hotels & Resorts. He was representing Oasys MiniHollywood theme park and Aquarium Costa de Almería, which have contributed to the achievement of this space through the transfer of resources and funds for many years.

The museum will be a living space that will host numerous outreach activities and school workshops, as well as conferences and travelling exhibitions to achieve a scientific and educational dissemination for the whole society.

The Natural History Pavilion aims to become not only a cultural reference for the university community and Almeria’s society, but also a tourist reference for the whole province.

The ground floor has space for flexible exhibitions, which can also be converted into teaching laboratories for educational purposes. It currently has 1.500 specimens of fauna, flora and minerals on display.

This space is currently focused on the natural environmental resources of the province of Almeria. With an outdoor area with different plant species, both on the ground and in height, and climbers that will allow the nesting of birds and promote biodiversity in the area. In the future, the exhibitions will be extended to other parts of the Peninsula or the world to learn about the different contemporary ecosystems.

Oasys MiniHollywood has supported this project from the beginning, working closely with both the University of Almeria and CECOUAL, pursuing scientific dissemination and the Conservation of Species and the Environment.

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.