{"id":60101729,"date":"2025-09-30T15:56:54","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T14:56:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/?post_type=news_digest&p=60101729"},"modified":"2025-09-30T15:57:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T14:57:00","slug":"chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat","status":"publish","type":"news_digest","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s ocean parks struggle to stay afloat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As many large ocean parks across China face serious operational difficulties, their animal welfare performance is coming under growing media scrutiny. China Newsweek reports<\/a> that these parks \u2013 once a way for real estate firms to enter local markets \u2013 have become heavy burdens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A major problem is that the ocean park industry grew too fast. In 2005, there were about 80 aquariums and large ocean-themed attractions in China. By 2021, the number had reached 260, and China Newsweek says it is now close to 300.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shi Zhe, co-founder of the Asia Aquarium Technology Research Institute, says many of these parks lack design, experience and funding. On top of that, the animals are treated as expendable. In some cases, Shi says more than half of the animals can die within six months of opening, and annual mortality rates often reach 30%. Top-tier aquariums keep this figure under 5%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Large marine animals are especially hard to maintain. In 2023, a beluga whale named Sophie died aged 30<\/a> in Jingzhou, Hubei. Belugas usually live for 40-60 years. Jianping Li, dean of the Future Ocean College at the Ocean University of China, said in a 2024 interview<\/a> that whales, dolphins and sharks suffer in captivity. Limited space and restricted behaviour shorten their lives and reduce genetic diversity, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, the costs are huge. Keeping one orca can cost CNY 5,000,000 (USD 700,000) a year. Lin Huanjie, president of the China Theme Park Research Institute, points out that, unlike land-based parks, ocean parks cannot simply close to cut costs \u2013 the animal care must continue.

Elsewhere, a report<\/a> in China Youth Daily has revealed that some oceanariums are using ticket sales as collateral to secure expansion loans. This means that, in some instances, animals are facing food shortages in venues generating substantial revenue. Shi Zhe told the paper: \u201cMany times, keepers, feeling sorry for the animals, pay for the feed themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This situation isn\u2019t unique to China. Following the closure<\/a> in January of France\u2019s largest marine park, Marineland Antibes, two killer whales are yet to find<\/a> a new home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some firms are now trying \u201casset-light\u201d models. Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park has experimented with animations and robotics to reduce costs. Yibin Fu, chairman of the China Tourism Development Unit industry group, believes the era of tourism projects tied to real estate is over. He predicts smaller, high-quality marine attractions that mix technology, performance and creative design will find success in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As many large ocean parks across China face serious operational difficulties, their animal welfare performance is coming under growing media scrutiny. China Newsweek reports that these parks \u2013 once a way for real estate firms to enter local markets \u2013 have become heavy burdens. A major problem is that the ocean park industry grew too […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":60006658,"template":"","categories":[50039901],"tags":[50042205,50040739],"country":[20000110],"digest-collection":[50039911,50039912],"class_list":["post-60101729","news_digest","type-news_digest","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ocean","tag-culture","tag-tourism","country-china"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChina\u2019s ocean parks struggle to stay afloat | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"China\u2019s ocean parks struggle to stay afloat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As many large ocean parks across China face serious operational difficulties, their animal welfare performance is coming under growing media scrutiny. China Newsweek reports that these parks \u2013 once a way for real estate firms to enter local markets \u2013 have become heavy burdens. A major problem is that the ocean park industry grew too […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dialogue Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-30T14:57:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ocean-news-digest-THUMBNAIL_Alamy_BP1YTW.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"784\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/\",\"name\":\"China\u2019s ocean parks struggle to stay afloat | Dialogue Earth\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ocean-news-digest-THUMBNAIL_Alamy_BP1YTW.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-30T14:56:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-30T14:57:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ocean-news-digest-THUMBNAIL_Alamy_BP1YTW.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ocean-news-digest-THUMBNAIL_Alamy_BP1YTW.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":784,\"caption\":\"BP1YTW Shoal of Bluefin Tuna, Thunnus thynnus, Sardinia, Italy\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"China\u2019s ocean parks struggle to stay afloat\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Dialogue Earth\",\"description\":\"Global climate and environment news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"width\":256,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_\",\"\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/\"],\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"China\u2019s ocean parks struggle to stay afloat | Dialogue Earth","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"China\u2019s ocean parks struggle to stay afloat","og_description":"As many large ocean parks across China face serious operational difficulties, their animal welfare performance is coming under growing media scrutiny. China Newsweek reports that these parks \u2013 once a way for real estate firms to enter local markets \u2013 have become heavy burdens. A major problem is that the ocean park industry grew too […]","og_url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/","og_site_name":"Dialogue Earth","article_modified_time":"2025-09-30T14:57:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":784,"url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ocean-news-digest-THUMBNAIL_Alamy_BP1YTW.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/","name":"China\u2019s ocean parks struggle to stay afloat | Dialogue Earth","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ocean-news-digest-THUMBNAIL_Alamy_BP1YTW.jpg","datePublished":"2025-09-30T14:56:54+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-30T14:57:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ocean-news-digest-THUMBNAIL_Alamy_BP1YTW.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ocean-news-digest-THUMBNAIL_Alamy_BP1YTW.jpg","width":1200,"height":784,"caption":"BP1YTW Shoal of Bluefin Tuna, Thunnus thynnus, Sardinia, Italy"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-ocean-parks-struggle-to-stay-afloat\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"China\u2019s ocean parks struggle to stay afloat"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","name":"Dialogue Earth","description":"Global climate and environment news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization","name":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_","","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/"],"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_digest\/60101729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_digest"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news_digest"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_digest\/60101729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60101805,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_digest\/60101729\/revisions\/60101805"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60006658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60101729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60101729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60101729"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=60101729"},{"taxonomy":"digest-collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/digest-collection?post=60101729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}