Chimelong Ocean Kingdom Chimelong Ocean Kingdom news

I visited Ocean Kingdom in September 2018. For the most part it is very, very good. Almost all the pinniped pools are excellent and the cetacean pools seem to be average. The manatee complex is world-class. The penguin complex, with at least six(?) species also impresses. The main aquarium building has the huge whale shark tank which is extraordinary, but other tanks are less so, and as a whole it has, bizarrely, a slightly neglected feel.

The biggest negative at the park is the awful polar mountain complex. I'm also not a fan of the arenas for sealions, belugas and dolphins but that's slightly more subjective. There are also a number of rides, and the overall aesthetic is rather garish, which is par for the course.

Huge developments are almost complete at OK. There is a new orca complex that will open soon, with unknown extras alongside (a recent rumour was dugongs). Of less interest will be a huge circus theatre (outside the park I believe).

Ocean Kingdom is my pick for the best zoo in China. It is not perfect, but it has quite a few world-class exhibits and plenty of rarities.

Chimelong Ocean Kingdom - ZooChat
 
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Online I have seen some mention of pantropical spotted dolphins at the park, as well as false killer whale, which I did not see and are not present in the gallery. Anyone know anything about this?


EDIT: I may as well reference my source:
2018 China Cetacean Alliance investigation into Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, China
It's an anti-cetaceans-in-captivity group, but it makes qualitative statements about animal numbers which can be addressed.
(Also, they have a useful map of ocean parks in China)
 
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FunkyGibbon said:
Online I have seen some mention of pantropical spotted dolphins at the park, as well as false killer whale, which I did not see and are not present in the gallery. Anyone know anything about this?
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If I remember correctly, the false killer whale is part of the dolphin show, and isn't on separate display.

Edit: Should have looked at that link first.
 
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The new Marine Science Park opening is delayed:

Zoo News Digest: Chimelong Marine Science Park

Their current collection of the ocean kingdom is crazy:

Currently 103 cetaceans are maintained at the Zhuhai Chimelong Ocean Kingdom. These are:

22 bottlenose Dolphins, 43 Beluga Whales, 1 False Killer Whale, 5 Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, 9 Killer Whales, 10 Pacific white-sided dolphin and 7 Pantropical spotted dolphin.
 
I ponder how this place is able to get away with holding that many belugas and and obtaining that many emperor penguins.
 
I have heard that Chimelong Ocean Kingdom's new program has been soft opening these days，which is called"Chimelong spaceship"，and it is said that there is a tiger shark/Galeocerdo cuvier in their shark exhibition area，which make.me surprised. And I wonder if there's more interesting species…
 
China Orca News published a video of the orcas swimming together in their tank. The link to the facebook post is here.

As an aside - I support zoos and aquariums but I'm already wary of cetaceans in human care and I'm firmly against the capture of them. It's just so sad to see such complex animals knowing that (many of) those in the video were once wild.

Cetacean capture is so brutal it just makes me sick thinking about it. I realize that might be a contentious hot take here.

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Chimelong is a state of the art facility it’s the largest one ever built in the world they have now 7 Guinness world records. Yes they were captured about 10 years ago. I don’t like captures but not going to condemn one of the best facilities ever (the only state of the art with orcas) just because 10 years ago they bought them they didn’t captured them themselves if you are going to ‘hate’ anyone then it’s have to be the Russian who were the ones that captured them not the park..
http://redirect.viglink.com/?key=71fe2139a887ad501313cd8cce3053c5&subId=2821294&u=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsumdfVj75Y This is an interview showing the back pools.
微博视频
Chimelong Spaceship
Largest aquarium tank
 
DDcorvus said:
The new Marine Science Park opening is delayed:

Zoo News Digest: Chimelong Marine Science Park

Their current collection of the ocean kingdom is crazy:

Currently 103 cetaceans are maintained at the Zhuhai Chimelong Ocean Kingdom. These are:

22 bottlenose Dolphins, 43 Beluga Whales, 1 False Killer Whale, 5 Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, 9 Killer Whales, 10 Pacific white-sided dolphin and 7 Pantropical spotted dolphin.
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UPDATE about the orcas they have 9 adults and 3 calves. They stated already that they have 12 orcas in total.
 
orcalover83 said:
I don’t like captures but not going to condemn one of the best facilities ever (the only state of the art with orcas) just because 10 years ago they bought them they didn’t captured them themselves if you are going to ‘hate’ anyone then it’s have to be the Russian who were the ones that captured them not the park..
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The Russian wouldn´t have captured any orca if there weren´t parks ready to pay them for it. Both have the same fault.
 
orcalover83 said:
Sorry I don’t see it like that… I still think it’s an awesome facility.
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Isn’t that a bit of an odd answer, because it doesn’t seem to be an answer really. The fact that Russians capture orca’s because there is a demand isn’t really debatable is it? I don’t think they do it for sport or fun, so there’s not much else left. That in itself makes showcasing most cetaceans questionable for many people. Even without my own opinion, I can understand anyone who would have that opinion.

The fact wether or not Chimelong is awesome is another matter altogether and much more subjective. The little video of the orcas swimming together doesn’t shout “awesome” to me just yet…
 
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