I have been to Lille many times and frequently visit the old town and nearby Parc de la Citadelle. However, this year, when I was planning where to go in Lille, I realized that I had not been to Lille Zoo. Since it had black-faced ibis and other neotropical animals not found near where I live nor in my home zoo, I headed there to take a look. The entry price for the rather small zoo is 3€ for a child ticket and 6€ for an adult. There are also concessions for large groups of people >8 people or for handicapped persons and their caregivers. Despite the cheap price of entry, most of the people there are quite well behaved and are curious to learn more about the animals, and the few that do act up are easily requested to stop misbehaving. Anyway, there is a single, looping path that goes around the zoo, so it is easy enough to navigate and see most things. I shall start with the global aviaries first and end at the neotropical walkthrough and lemurs. As you enter the zoo, you can see an exhibit with ample climbing opportunities and a small stream. The only planting is a few shrubby trees and some grass. This habitat is home to a pair of red pandas. It was quite a nice entrance exhibit, and one that I thought was well-placed. Then, the scenery changes, and you find two aviaries of a decent size. The first housed a handful of burrowing owls in an exhibit with a lot of branches. Grass and natural substrate covers the floor and it is quite nice. The second contained two scarlet macaws and gave them ample space to climb around, although it would be better with more flying space. Next to them are two aviaries of the same mold, but used to housed black-cheeked lovebirds and a smattering of African odds and ends. The second exhibit had a small pond and some small trees. There was a grassy aviary with branches and shrubs that housed some sun conures and helmeted curassows that was both beautiful and fitted the species kept. Next came a strange exhibit featuring crowned pigeons and coatimundis. It was smothered by natural wood chips and had hiding areas for both the coati and the pigeon. Short trees grew nearby and it was a decent habitat, although a strange one. Two exhibits in the row held meerkats. There was a thick layer of sand, which was not wasted on the meerkats. In fact, there were long tunnels in the sand, dug by the meerkats. Opposite this was an exhibit for Australian birds which was akin to the one used for the African birds and will not be discussed. In the same row was a desert exhibit that held fennecs and dwarf mongoose. It had some deadfall strewn about, as well as plenty of sand. The fennec just slept in its "house" while the mongoose was more active. The rest of the complex contained a well-planted exhibit for saki monkeys, agouti and northern cardinal. It was covered with vegetation, though a tad smaller than I would have expected. However, it was cool nonetheless as it contained my dream species. Regrettably, the cardinal was offshow, presumably because it was too cold outside. There was a similar exhibit for java sparrow, a rocky exhibit for a pair of pallas cats was nice, with a stream, rocks and ivy. A little exhibit for greek tortoise was quite homely and had a straw-bedded house in which the tortoises rested. The herp house started with a decent indoor holding for giant tortoises. It contained a pool but was not notable in any way. The outside exhibit was nice and grassy, with some mud. Two paludariums for poison dart frogs were beautiful, but the kinkajou exhibit was utilitarian. It was basically the Tasmanian devil barn in the night safari, but with a lot more space to climb. An exhibit with Lyle's flying fox was smaller than the exhibits I had seen but suited the species. Red bellied tamarins, sloths and a pair of armadillos continued the experience, held in a similar exhibit as the kinkajou but with digging medium. There was an exhibit for roul-rouls with climbing frames, which the partridges used, much to my surprise. Finally, a row of snake exhibits came into view. All of them were of a good size, with decent landscaping. Well, even the cornsnakes got an exhibit that was WDG quality! An exhibit for ASCO and a binturong round off the complex. It has a rock face with branches and a small pond with waterfalls. A few trees grow in the exhibit, adding to it. However, it looks more at home in North America than in Southeast Asia. After this, there are some side habitats for a muntjac and a pair of arctic foxes. Both look like fenced in patches of the surrounding forest with some landscaping. However, it is a little barren, but hopefully it will grow some plants in time. The primate islands are amazing and have massive climbing opportunities. Each island is bedecked with numerous trees, which spread out in the air, supplementing the network of ropes and poles. A few nets are interspersed between the networks to give the animals more room. Some tube-like structures connected the islands with off-show housing, which was not accessible. The white-handed gibbons used the structures earlier that day, when I viewed the primates for free. Other than the primates, the lake was actually home to some pelicans and waterfowl, which were a treat to observe. A fenced in area held Magellan goose. The exhibit was well-planted, with water access and a lot of undergrowth. Overall, a good area and on par with the South American aviary. The South American paddock was a well-planted area with maned wolf and lowland tapir. The safe area for the maned wolf was uniquely partitioned, with a row of stakes. As the wolves were slender enough to squeeze through, they could enter, but the rather rotund tapir could not enter. The long tufts of grass and small pond gave both species some cover and a place to soak. Overall, a good exhibit that was designed creatively. As for the African section, it was a glorified rhinoceros paddock with some guineafowl. However, it was a good exhibit, with trees for shade. The moat is pleasing to the eye, with a well-disguised artificial bank. Lastly, the South American aviary was a blast. Palms were planted in many locations in the aviary, and trees provided shade and perching areas. This almost felt like I was walking in the rainforest, and it was extremely immersive. A small side pond was present, tucked among the vegetation. There was also a prairie dog enclosure, which followed the same mold as all the other burrowing animals, which meant deep substrate and random deadfall. The nearby lemur enclosure is nothing special, and is a typical lemur enclosure, but with the offshow housing shown to the viewer. This post was longer than intended, but you get the idea. Lille Zoo is one of the best small zoos I have been to. As my next post will note, the number of species have decreased, but it is still quite interesting.
Species list red panda Autour du monde 1st aviary on the left Burrowing Owl 2nd aviary on the left Scarlet macaw 3rd aviary on the left helmeted curassow sun conure 4th aviary on the left Sclater's crowned pigeon Ring-tailed coatimundi 5th aviary on the left Indian crested porcupine (signed, not seen) Meerkat 6th exhibit on the left Meerkat 7th exhibit on the left White-faced saki monkey Azara's agouti Northern cardinal 8th aviary on the left Java sparrow 1st aviary on the right Black cheeked lovebird 2nd aviary on the right Green turaco Superb starling Hamerkop African grey parrot Senegal parrot 3rd aviary on the right Blue-winged kookaburra Masked lapwing Pied imperial pigeon Parma wallaby Sulphur-crested cockatoo rainbow lorikeet Galah 4th exhibit on the right Dwarf mongoose Fennec fox 5th exhibit on the right Pallas cat 6th exhibit on the right Greek tortoise Voyage exotique First terrarium Blue poison arrow frog Second terrarium Yellow banded Poison dart frog Exhibit 1 Kinkajou Exhibit 2 Lyle's flying fox Pygmy slow loris (signed, not seen) Exhibit 3 White-lipped tamarin Exhibit 4 Six-banded armadillo Linne's two-toed sloth Exhibit 5 Crested wood partridge Greater Malay Chevrotain Snake terrariums and tortoise Gopher snake Boa constrictor Red cornsnake Californian kingsnake Green iguana Aldabra giant tortoise African helmeted turtle (signed, not seen) Otters Asian small-clawed otter Binturong To be continued...
D'ile en ile Paddock 1 Reeve's muntjac Paddock 2 Arctic fox 1st island White-handed gibbon 2nd island Siamang 3rd island Brown capuchin Lake waterfowl and others Barnacle goose Great white pelican Common shelduck Bar-headed goose Common slider (signed, not seen) Side fenced area Magellan goose Excursion sud-américaine Maned wolf Lowland tapir Terres d'afrique Southern white rhinoceros Helmeted guineafowl Sous le tropiques Inca tern Scarlet ibis Puna ibis Black-faced ibis Red-legged seriema Turkey vulture Cattle egret White-faced Whistling Duck Side exhibit Black-tailed prairie dog Lemurs Black-and-white ruffed lemur Ring-tailed lemurs
