Does anyone know anything else about this zoo, i've been looking at the flickr photos and from what I can gather it has polar bear, tiger, lions, chimps, elephants, spectacled bears and brown bears (as well as others). there seems to be no photos on the gallery and I cant find much on google that isn't in french
Just what the enclosures are like, any real good exhibits, the size of the zoo, any rarities and the general feeling from the zoo overall.
They've got white lions, don't know if you call that a rarity in england , Nigerian Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis peralta), fishing cats, north american river otters. Great exhibits for brown bears and polar bears. Very nice exhibits for sumatran tiger, white lions, fishing cats, wolves, African elephants. There were not many encloseres I had a bad feeling about, the chimps wasn't great and I didn't like the reptile house. But overall a good feeling, I had a great time. It was the suprise of our short zoo holiday in France, we didn't know what to expect, but we thought it was a really nice zoo. I don't know the size, it's not extremely large, just average.
I uploaded some exhibits-pictures of the Zoo de la Flèche. (I continue ;-) Icequeen, 1) the giraffes are not peralta, but antiquorum; 2) This zoo is maybe "beautiful", the enclosures look perfect, but it is, like lots of americans zoos, only easthethic...If you think at the animals, they have too electric wire, and the space of lots of the exhibits is too small (Stereotyps for canadian otters, polars and brown bears...). Also, they want to have lots of visitors, so, they have white lions, black panthers...But is isn't the goal of the zoo, they must have more endangered subspecies ! The size of the zoo is 35 acres ! But you know, in my country, France, we haven't got any grottos or even cages, for primates or big cats, so lots of exhibits are average (La Flèche), or beautiful (Doué, CERZA...), but too, we haven't terrifics exhibits like C.G.F in Bronx or Lied Jungle in Omaha. Nothing of spectacular, but nothing of horrible, it's France ! Now, a review of Zoo de la Flèche : 1) Featured exhibits: Congo-River : This is the big new of 2009, and one of the finest of the zoo. The visitors walk on a long and beautiful naturel bridge, for see a very large equatorial african mixed-species exhibit, with 2 pygmies hippos, bongos, red rivers hog and Vulturine Guineafowl. There are grassy parts, lots of trunks and exotics plants, and, for the hippopotamus, a blue pool with underwater-view, and a most natural wetlands. The last year : A forest-part for the hogs and the hippopos ! Tigers Taiga : The subspecie (Sumatran tiger) is'nt very good for the biotop, but it would be absolutely PERFECT for amur tigers. It is really large with a fir forest, a river, rocks and an underground observatory. White lions of Kruger : Again, iy would be better for a most endangered species, but the enclosure is quite good. This is the old african lion exhibit, expanded and renovated to create the complex called White lions of Kruger. The enclosure can be seen from three glass-observatories. It is the home of a pair of white lions called Jabu and Nikita, arrived from an african farm. Tropical Zone : A large tropic-complex for ocelots (The worstest exhibit here), squirrels-monkeys, agoutis, Cotton-top tamarin, maned wolves, and, the best, black panthers. Situated at the heart of the Tropical Zone, the black panther exhibit can be seen from 4 glass-fronted observatories. It is very long (Maybe 0,5 acre) and is enhanced with lots of tropicals trees, large rocks, and a splendid waterfall with pool. The pair of felines is the most often invisible. There is also a small but densely planted mixed-species exhibit. Here lives white-faced sakis, common marmosets, and a few exotics birds (Purple Glossy-starling, ringed teal, Crested Partridge and violet turacos). There are two glass-fronted observatories for the visitors but the animals are hardly visible (Especially monkeys, but it\'s perfect...) Pity that the birds here are not all from the same continent (Africa, Asia and South America in this aviary !) Wild Arctic : Despite the presence of too much wire, the polar bear exhibit is (With Peaugres), one of the best of the country for this specie. There is a gigantic pool with 160 feet of long underwater-viewing, and a small forest part. Near the polar bear exhibit, is a smaller arctic wolves exhibit Red Panda and fishing cats : Two densely planted exhibits with rocks, trees and waterfalls. The Average : Le Bush Australien : A beautiful small australian exhibit with red kangaroos and emus. Marine World : An aquatic-complex with decents but too small pools for californian sea-lions, humboldt penguins and small-clawed otters. African elephants : Newly renovated, the african elephant exhibit (0,75 acre) is too small but has a pool with waterfall, and a forest part, with a naturel ground. Yukon Valley : The big new of 2003. Situated a the center of the zoo, this big north-american complex called Yukon Valley is the home of 2 European brow bears and 1 female Kamchatka bear (Arrived from Antwerpen Zoo). The exbibit (Maybe 1,5 acres) can be seen from five viewing points (Glass, underwater...) and a big platform. There are lots of waterfalls and rocks, a large river for swim and a fir forest. Very aesthetic ! Our french Russia\'s Grizzly Coast ! ;-) The Worst : The Vivarium : The reptile-house is a very old building with a small collection of snakes, tortoises, iguanas and a poor terrarium for yacare caïmans. The canadian otters : A blue pool with underwater-view connected with a very small concrete terrestrial part. Disappointing because it's one of the 10 newest exhibit ! Mandrills : An old empty cage for a poor mandrill's group. Hippopotamus : A small pool for a pair of hippopotamus. Chimpanzees : At the beginning of the zoo, the grassy chimpanzees-island is too small and has only artifical ropes and platforms for the apes, with a poor glass-fronted house. In progress : There are lots of projects in Zoo de la Flèche, like a new forest-part for the pygmy hippos and red river hogs --> 2009 An african savannah for giraffes, zebras, watussis-cattle, antelopes, and maybe white rhinos --> 2010-2011 A new cheetah exhibit --> 2011 ? A new apes-complex, with gorillas, chimpanzees and eventually orang-utans --> 2012 ? If you go in France, you must see : CERZA, Doué-Bioparc (Perfect zoo !), La Boissière du Doré Zoo, the small Asson Zoo, the Réserve africaine de Sigean, the Lunaret Zoo with Amazonian Rainforest, the Zoo de la Barben, the Villars-les-Dombes bird Park, the Safari de Peaugres, the zooparc de Beauval (4000 animals, 400 species, 50 acres : The biggest french zoo), the réserve de la Haute-Touche, etc... And...even if everything is not perfect, le Zoo de la Flèche PS : Very sorry for my badddd english
Thank you Ice Queen / Maxime for a most comprehensive review of what seems to be a decent and improving zoo I'm just off to go see the pictures now...by the way I think your English is really good
just going by the info on ISIS: Giraffa camelopardalis peralta Nigerian giraffe Range: NIGER,NIGERIA,SENEGAL,CAMEROON © Copyright ISIS 9 Jul 2009 Institution Males Females Unknowns Births (last 12 months) CABOSSE 0 1 0 0 FONTAINE 1 7 0 1 LA FLECHE 1 2 0 0 LES SABLE 0 2 0 0 LISIEUX Z 1 0 0 0 LYON 1 0 0 0 PARIS ZOO 1 11 1 1 PELISSANE 0 2 0 0 TOUROPARC 1 1 0 0 {Regional Subtotal} {6} {26} {1} {2} Totals 6 26 1 2 And I didn't say it was beautiful, I said it was very nice, big difference If I would call a zoo in France beautiful it would definatly be Doué-Bioparc. Anyway, don't have pictures of the exhibits, but I did make some of the animals, you can see them on my website. Your welcome, foz, glad I could be of some help around here
However, ISIS is not always a good source ! In 2007, the Zoo de Vincennes (Paris) has made analysis on its giraffes, which have proven that ALL Peralta in captivity in Europe, were Antiquorum !
Great review. There is a recent thread on here that has a link to very well written almost up to date giraffe studbook. ISIS is only as good as the zoo admin who provide the information. Totally agree about Doue, it remains my favourite zoo. I have added a number of images in past to gallery, as have for Beauval which is a very large colllection. I visited Flesche in the afternoon after Doue, which really probably tainted my view. As did watching a Polar Bear continously swimming in a 2m circle despite having far more space available. Anyway didnt think much of Flesche it seemed a tired, on the way to being run down place, although seems to have been a few major new things since my visit in 2006. The Yukon part stood out as a significant new development. The Loire valley region has a number of worth visiting zoos and is obviously tourist friendly.
Article ( in French ) and video of the leaving of female Pygmy hippo Kindia to Toronto ( Canada ) : Zoo. L'hippopotame Kindia quitte le zoo pour Toronto au Canada [vidéo] | Presse Océan
They start with two bulls,"Bys II"born 2014 at Warsaw( his brother is at La Teste) and "Bali", born 2015 at Whipsnade. It amazing to see Indian rhinos are so popular in France, but not in germany. I'm curious what other european zoos will keep Indian Rhinos in the future.
Here is a map of the new asian area of the zoo: Nouveauté 2017 : Rhinocéros Indiens - Zoo de la Flèche
A male bear cuscus has arrived at the zoo. http://www.actuzoo.com/2017/05/09/zoo-de-fleche-presentation-premiere-de-lextension-zoo/
Great news! This species has gone from only 1 holder to 4 holders in only a year or so. Hopefully this trend continues. Anyone know if it's a formal, coordinated effort to establish the species? Zootierliste has not been updated to reflect this new holding facility; perhaps @TeaLovingDave or someone else with ZTL access can make the addition.
Just finished uploading my photos from a visit to La Flèche last month: Zoo de la Flèche | ZooChat Let me know if any questions - will do my best to answer but was a slightly disrupted day with highly variable weather, as the photos show..!
