Kolmården Wildlife Park
 |
|
| Date opened | 1965 |
|---|---|
| Location | Bråviken bay, Norrköping, Sweden |
| Coordinates | 58°39′55″N 16°27′59″E / 58.66528°N 16.46639°ECoordinates: 58°39′55″N 16°27′59″E / 58.66528°N 16.46639°E |
| Land area | 1.5 km2 (370 acres) |
| No. of species | 85 |
| Annual visitors | 720,000 (2015) |
| Memberships | EAZA,WAZA |
| Owner | Parks & Resorts Scandinavia |
| Website | www |
Kolmården Wildlife Park (Swedish: Kolmårdens djurpark) is a zoo that opened in 1965 overlooking Bråviken bay in Sweden. It is the largest zoo in Scandinavia, includes the first dolphinarium in Scandinavia, which opened in 1969 and has daily shows, and the worlds first cable car safari. The wildlife park also has a birds of prey display and a seal show. In the Marine World area is a roller coaster called "The Dolphin Express".
The zoo was conceived in 1962 by Ulf Svensson as a means of reviving the Kolmården Municipality, and was opened in 1965 with 210 animals in residence.
The polar bear facility opened in 1968 with 6 polar bears—one of the largest polar facilities in the world. The dolphinarium opened in 1969, and in 1972 the zoo became home to brown bears. 1972 also saw the opening of the drive-through safari park, as well as the Tropicarium, which exhibited snakes and crocodiles, Located outside the entry of the zoo.
In 1993, the zoo opened Dolphin Lagoon. In 1997, the zoo was turned over from municipal ownership to private ownership. Bamses värld, devoted to the cartoon character Bamse, was opened in the following year.
Parks and Resorts Scandinavia took over operation of the zoo in 2001 and has since been making many changes. Tiger World, where visitors can get "scary close" to tigers, was completed in 2007, and in 2008, the dolphinarium was extended into a new Marine World. In 2009, a family friendly roller-coaster called "The dolphin express" (Delfinexpressen) opened in Marine World.
In 2006, a baby gorilla was born at Kolmården for the first time in history, making its birth the first of its kind in Sweden. The gorilla, called Enzo, was not accepted by his mother during the first period of his life and the zookeepers had to nurse him. Enzo was later reintroduced to his family, and in 2009, Enzo got a brother, called Echo.
The safari park that originally opened in 1972 was closed to drive-through visitors in 2010, but was replaced by a low-going cableway in 2011, called "Safari". The attraction consists of five areas with different themes and animals:
...
Wikipedia