Reproductive skills

Providing a home for wildlife is a great responsibility and requires an environment that encourages the natural reproduction of the species to ensure not only their wellbeing but also the conservation of their species in the wild.

Sadly, more and more wild species are being listed on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) red list. Ensuring that they are cared for and bred in zoological settings with adequate facilities and qualified staff is essential for the conservation of biodiversity. This is called ex-situ conservation. See page on EEPs.

These ex situ conservation activities have several objectives: conservation breeding, development of wild populations, introduction into the wild, creation of gene banks, applied conservation research, etc.

In the world of aquariums, Marineland is a world leader in the natural reproduction of grey sharks, with more than 20 years of experience and some 200 pups born here that have populated other aquariums in France and around the world.

Our facility is also the first animal zoo to have successfully completed the life cycle of the loggerhead turtle.  Indeed, several baby turtles have been born thanks to the special attention of the aquarium team. A real achievement. The data gathered from these young turtles from their first day of life have filled a scientific void with respect to their first years of life, which have been little studied until now. Thanks to these births, many essential research programmes are being conducted in conjunction with the RTMMF and the MNHN.

With their unique expertise and a network of aquarium professionals in France and around the world, the team of aquarists has created a Bioresource Centre where species such as blue spotted rays, corals and several species of tropical fish (Aeoliscus strigatus, Gramma dejongi, Pseudanthias squamipinnis) can reproduce. Many of the fish from this Bioresource Centre go on to populate other aquariums so that they do not have to be taken from the wild. 

These breeding skills are also present in the teams dedicated to cetaceans and pinnipeds such as killer whales, bottlenose dolphins, sea lions, seals, etc.

The reproduction of all these species is possible thanks to the constant improvement of the facilities, practical training and breeding techniques discussed amongst the network of experts from different European zoological parks.

Août 2022

Birth of a King Penguin at Marineland Zoo! A young king penguin chick hatched in mid-August, after 54 days of incubation. His father and mother (or both) take turns feeding him. In penguins, parity is respected: both parents take care of the chick as much as the other! In 10 to 13 months, this chick will have its plumage and will join the colony of around forty king penguins and rockhopper penguins housed in the Antarctica area of the Marineland zoo, which is kept at 11 degrees all year round, where it will learn to to swim. In adulthood, the king penguin measures between 85 and 95 cm, it is the second largest among the 18 species of penguins.
Juillet 2022

6 rockhopper penguin babies born this year! Between June 26 and July 4, Marineland's team of seabird caretakers had the pleasure of welcoming 6 adorable rockhopper penguin chicks! The rockhopper penguin gets its name from the fact that it moves in small leaps and of the 18 species of penguins in the world, there are 7 species of penguins, all of which are characterized by the presence of yellow tufts on each side of the head. . The 7 penguin species are classified as endangered (EN) or vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Juin 2022
- Birth of a baby South African sea lion, the fruit of Kali and Charlie's love!
Avril 2022

Birth of Happy, Humboldt penguin: the Marineland Côte d'Azur zoo was delighted to see the birth of Happy on April 5, 2022, the fruit of the love of Looping and Frenchie, themselves born in Antibes. This is their first chick and they are raising it without any intervention from the keepers. One parent stays in the nest when the 2nd goes to feed. They thus take turns during the day, there is no long food journey in this species. Fish is left at will in the basins stimulating the search for food and feeding in the water. This same fish will be regurgitated by the parents to feed the chick until its autonomy (tight plumage). The animal spaces are designed so that the animals express their natural behavior, a guarantee of their well-being.
Juillet 2021
- Birth of a baby seal
Mai 2021
- Birth of Picasso, a baby sea lion
2020
- For the first time in the world history of aquariology, teams from Marineland, Océanopolis and the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco have succeeded in breeding and breeding hatchet fish!
Mai 2020
- The dolphin Nala gives birth to her first baby, representing the 2nd generation of dolphins born at Marineland!
Décembre 2019
- Birth of a litter of 8 baby gray sharks at Marineland
Septembre 2019
- Marineland aquarists managed to naturally reproduce the Gramma Dejongi species a few months after the same feat with razorfish Aeoliscus strigatus!
Août 2019
- Birth of two baby blue-spotted rays, a first!
Juillet 2019
- Birth of a baby Humboldt penguin