It will take a little patience to see Boca. For the moment, the little binturong prefers to sleep out of sight, well hidden in the middle of the plants, rather than hanging on the trapezoids which are reserved for him or jumping from trap to trap. The animal is still looking for its marks. Recently, it took place in the Asian forest of the Tête d’Or park in Lyon, a new space of 7,000 square meters which will open on Wednesday afternoon.
A few meters away, Pinola is sunbathing, lying behind the bamboo. The female Malaysian tapir may well become one of the future stars of the Lyon zoo. Especially since she will have to learn to shower in public, by pressing the dedicated button with her trunk.
“We have installed a swimming pool and a shower for her so that she can cool off as much as possible in the summer,” says Gwendoline Anfray, the deputy director and veterinarian of the zoo of the head of Gold. But she remains relatively shy. She still has to get used to her surroundings. Like all the other boarders, freshly installed. 19 species populate this new Asian forest, made in the old elephant house, where Baby and (late) Nepal used to live.
Endangered species
The space now includes two huge aviaries, located outside, where gibbons, elaphodes, civets and a whole bunch of rare birds such as Bali starlings coexist. The former elephant dormitory has been rehabilitated to accommodate amphibians and reptiles, thus marking their “return” to the park. The particularity ? They are all endangered species. And even “on the red list”, underlines Nicolas Husson, assistant to the town hall in charge of biodiversity, nature in the city and animal protection. “We need to protect them if one day they have to be reintroduced into their natural environment,” he continues.
“The first mission of this zoo is to protect and preserve endangered species while taking animal welfare into account”, supports Grégory Doucet, the mayor of Lyon. A partnership has been signed between the city and the VetoAgroSup veterinary school, which will be responsible for taking stock of the transfer of animals to these more spacious enclosures. Like Boca the Binturong and his little family, some of them had been living at the zoo for a few years. “They were installed in premises that were too small. We have replaced them so that they live in better conditions ”, specifies Gwendoline Anfray, adding that the walk of the walkers in the alleys of the forest will be immersive. “It is the visitors who invite themselves into the animal world. We will see them, or sometimes not, if they prefer to hide. It is no longer a question of showing them off at all costs. “
Wrongly accused of wanting to close the place, the new executive dispelled any misunderstanding, even specifying that he wanted to invest one million euros until 2026 to improve existing infrastructure. The outdoor space in which the Amur panthers live should be doubled, for example. A study was also launched to transfer the yellow-breasted capuchins to the old bear enclosure, where a huge aviary could be built, with a volume of living space multiplied by 30 for the monkeys.
The town hall is also considering redeveloping the deer plain to accommodate endangered French and European species while carrying out “experimental work” on the largest mammals in the park. “When the lion is dead, we will probably not bring others to replace it,” warns Nicolas Husson. The crocodiles should soon be transferred to protected wadis in Morocco. Don’t expect to see elephants and bears again either. But there will always be Amur panthers, sand cats, giraffes, Hoest cercopithecus, red pandas or binturongs to admire.