The inhabitants and visitors of Campo Grande, capital of Mato Grosso do Sul, will finally be able to immerse themselves in the aquatic universe of the Pantanal — and other places in Brazil and the world. Almost a decade late, the Pantanal Biopark (formerly known as the Pantanal Aquarium) will open to the general public this Monday (2).
The official opening took place on March 28, but until now, visits were limited to a few groups, such as schools and universities, precisely to train teams and prepare the structure for full operation.
The large building was designed by Ruy Ohtake, son of artist Tomie Ohtake (1913-2015) and renowned creator of buildings in the capital of São Paulo. The architect died in 2021.
The aquarium’s history so far has been marked by considerable delays — the work started in 2011 was supposed to last 900 days, that is, about two and a half years — and by several accusations of irregularities. They even reached the former governor and now pre-candidate for the government of Mato Grosso do Sul André Puccinelli (MDB), who was even preventively arrested.
Initially, the aquarium was budgeted at R$84.7 million. It ended up costing the state coffers R$ 200 million, with contractual amendments and the inclusion of items that, according to the MPF (Federal Public Ministry), “did not go through a bidding process”.
The problems and accusations led to the work stoppage for years. They only resumed in 2019.
In the midst of this sequence of delays, thousands of animals, some of them threatened with extinction, that would inhabit the new tanks had already been acquired and were kept in temporary aquariums, in the care of research teams that worked in search of adequate adaptation for the animals. .
The time in the temporary home ended up being used for studies of animal handling protocols, with care such as feeding, reproduction and behavior.
In the end, the makeshift tanks became a place for the study of fish, the Ichthyology laboratory. Even with the final version of the aquarium ready, the space will remain in operation with the help of Imasul (Instituto de Meio Ambiente de Mato Grosso do Sul).
Now completed, the Pantanal Biopark already holds surprises: a newly discovered —in the tributaries of the Correntes River, between Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul— species of lambari, which has not yet been described and, consequently, has no name.
With free admission until December, the aquarium is open from Monday to Friday, from 7:30 am to 11:30 am, then from 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm, and on Saturdays from 7:30 am to 11:30 am.
It seems, however, that not all difficulties are left behind in the history of the aquarium. For the visit, it is necessary to book in advance on the internet, which was opened on April 22. People who tried to schedule, however, encountered difficulties, according to the aquarium’s own profile on social networks. There are several complaints on the Bioparque Pantanal page.
In a post on the same day that the schedule began, the official account stated that the technical team was already providing support to solve the problem and asked the population to be patient.
In a post on Friday (29), on the aquarium’s profile, singer Luan Santana appears visiting the Biopark. A profile of the network commented: “I doubt you booked through the site”.
Until Friday, the report tried to check available dates for visits and could not. For the visitation options, there was the message: “Agendas unavailable. No schedule forecast for the selected type, at the moment”.
