Haute-Touche Animal Reserve Haute-Touche Animal Reserve

sooty mangabey

sooty mangabey

Well-Known Member
I have just returned from some weeks in France, where I was able to visit six mostly very impressive zoos in the Loire region.

Haute-Touche was amongst the oddest! Quite a large collection, in a beautiful setting, with enclosures which have probably been untouched for many years but which are, nonetheless, excellent. Huge numbers of deer, and quite an impressive collection of antelopes too, mostly kept in pretty big groups. Some of the place is drive-through (or drive past), for some you can hire bicycles. It is all fantastically uncommercial, and given that it is about 40 minutes away from the excellent (and very commercial) Beauval Zoo, it doesn't really have a chance.

I would very much like to know more about its history, its current management, its raison d'etre. Does anybody have any such knowledge? I have been unable to find much information on the web about it.

Many thanks in advance.
 
New arrivals at Obterre include a breeding group of 1.4 Addax (0.2 from Montpellier, 0.2 from Mulhouse and a male from Hannover) One of the females was already pregnant on arrival and has since given birth to male calf.

A male Sumatran Tiger also arrived from WHF in the UK this week to form the first half of a new breeding pair
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Just finished uploading photos of my June visit to what is indeed a very curious zoo - somewhere between Whipsnade and Woburn Abbey Deer Park was the closest match for feel we could come up with!

Photos are here: Haute-Touche Animal Reserve | ZooChat

It's a strange zoo with a very ungulate-heavy roster, but there is a fair carnivore collection and a nice smattering of other species as well. Nerdy highlights include Nubian Ibex, Beisa Oryx, Markhor, Black Wildebeest, White-lipped Peccary, Dhole, Striped Hyaena and Guinea Baboon - but the big attraction is the frankly magnificent deer line-up. The on-show deer species list as of 14th June this year was:

Muntiacus reevesi - Reeves' Muntjac
Muntiacus muntjak - Indian Muntjac
Axis axis - Axis Deer
Axis porcinus - Hog Deer
Dama dama - European Fallow Deer
Dama mesopotamica - Persian Fallow Deer
Rusa unicolor - Sambar
Cervus nippon dybowskii - Dybowksi's Sika
Cervus nippon nippon - Japanese Sika
Cervus nippon pseudaxis - Vietnamese Sika
Cervus elaphus hippelaphus - Central European Red Deer
Cervus canadensis - Wapiti
Elaphurus davidianus - Pere David's Deer
Rucervus eldii siamensis - Siamese Eld's Deer
Rucervus eldii thamin - Burmese Eld's Deer
Rucervus duvaucelii - Barasingha
Hydropotes inermis - Chinese Water Deer
Capreolus capreolus capreolus - Western Roe Deer
Alces (alces) americana - American Moose
Odocoileus virginianus - White-tailed Deer

20 taxa in all, plus I understand one of the White-tailed Deer is recorded as a pure subspecies borealis. There seemed to be at least four separate groups of Red and European Fallow, and at least two of Japanese Sika. We saw all but the Roe Deer. That is by no means a complete set of the zoo deer of Europe (even ruling out species with only a handful of individuals, and ignoring subspecies, there's still no pudu, White-lipped, Philippine Spotted or Tufted Deer, or even reindeer, for instance) but it's a mighty fine line up with some very rare taxa. They are the only European zoo currently keeping American Moose and the siamensis subspecies of Eld's Deer.
 
Maguari said:
Muntiacus reevesi - Reeves' Muntjac
Muntiacus muntjak - Indian Muntjac
Click to expand...

Surely these are Reeves and Indian-ish muntjac, I didn't think there were any pure M.muntjak in Europe, just very good looking hybrids?
 
Brum said:
Surely these are Reeves and Indian-ish muntjac, I didn't think there were any pure M.muntjak in Europe, just very good looking hybrids?
Click to expand...

I don't know if they're exactly 100% pure, but they look fine. I've heard a lot of talk of them being otherwise but never any actual specific reasoning for it. There certainly are flat-out Reeves labelled as Indian out there, but Haute-Touche's are not that.
 
Maguari said:
Just finished uploading photos of my June visit to what is indeed a very curious zoo - somewhere between Whipsnade and Woburn Abbey Deer Park was the closest match for feel we could come up with!

Photos are here: Haute-Touche Animal Reserve | ZooChat

It's a strange zoo with a very ungulate-heavy roster, but there is a fair carnivore collection and a nice smattering of other species as well. Nerdy highlights include Nubian Ibex, Beisa Oryx, Markhor, Black Wildebeest, White-lipped Peccary, Dhole, Striped Hyaena and Guinea Baboon - but the big attraction is the frankly magnificent deer line-up. The on-show deer species list as of 14th June this year was:

Muntiacus reevesi - Reeves' Muntjac
Muntiacus muntjak - Indian Muntjac
Axis axis - Axis Deer
Axis porcinus - Hog Deer
Dama dama - European Fallow Deer
Dama mesopotamica - Persian Fallow Deer
Rusa unicolor - Sambar
Cervus nippon dybowskii - Dybowksi's Sika
Cervus nippon nippon - Japanese Sika
Cervus nippon pseudaxis - Vietnamese Sika
Cervus elaphus hippelaphus - Central European Red Deer
Cervus canadensis - Wapiti
Elaphurus davidianus - Pere David's Deer
Rucervus eldii siamensis - Siamese Eld's Deer
Rucervus eldii thamin - Burmese Eld's Deer
Rucervus duvaucelii - Barasingha
Hydropotes inermis - Chinese Water Deer
Capreolus capreolus capreolus - Western Roe Deer
Alces (alces) americana - American Moose
Odocoileus virginianus - White-tailed Deer

20 taxa in all, plus I understand one of the White-tailed Deer is recorded as a pure subspecies borealis. There seemed to be at least four separate groups of Red and European Fallow, and at least two of Japanese Sika. We saw all but the Roe Deer. That is by no means a complete set of the zoo deer of Europe (even ruling out species with only a handful of individuals, and ignoring subspecies, there's still no pudu, White-lipped, Philippine Spotted or Tufted Deer, or even reindeer, for instance) but it's a mighty fine line up with some very rare taxa. They are the only European zoo currently keeping American Moose and the siamensis subspecies of Eld's Deer.
Click to expand...
Going by the posted photos this certainly looks like a good place to visit. Thanks for the info.
 
Antoine said:
The information has to be confirmed but an article on internet (looking serious) talk about the future arrival of Javan gibbons and Javan langurs at the park. Great additions if confirmed.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately not !

But great news from the park :
It is reopening next june 8th and during covid-19 closure there have been 75 births : 6 timber wolves (4 males and 2 females), 2 Mishmi takin males (the herd is now composed of 9 animals !), 1 nubian ibex, 2 kuban turs (1 male and 1 female - Zootierliste is wrong : they still have a herd), Beisa oryx, common eland, blackbucks, brown-antlered deers (subspecies is not precised), dybowski deers, taiwan sika deers, pere's david deers, vietnamese sika deers, southern white-lipped pecarrys, european wild boars, patagonian maras, azara's agoutis, red-necked wallabies, 2 violet turacos (first chicks), black swans, egyptian gooses.

:cool:

Vérification de sécurité nécessaire
 
Some news from my tuesday's visit :
- the two striped hyenas are on show and going well. So cute to see !
- there are no more bactrian deer and wapiti. The first one are expected to come back in the future.
- there is only one american moose left (9 years old male). The park try to place it somewhere else. After he leaves they will take european mooses.
- the watusis exhibit is been refurbished for red river hogs (new species). The building works are going on and the exhibit will be ready for opening next year. The watusis are now with the zebras and ostriches in the former giraffes' exhibit.
- the chinese dhole pack will be change at the end of the year. 10 or more animals will go to Ecozonia - Terre de Prédateurs, new zoo opening in the south of France. La Haute-Touche will form a new pack with some former females and new males.

Antoine said:
The information has to be confirmed but an article on internet (looking serious) talk about the future arrival of Javan gibbons and Javan langurs at the park. Great additions if confirmed.
Click to expand...
- now I can say that it will be done. The park is expecting estimates for the houses. We will have to wait for one or two years as always for the Museum before it takes shape !
- a second western baboons island is still on the desk but waiting for money (the island is already done). It will be home for twelve male baboons (one of the three groups in Paris Zoological Park).
- there is a project of mixed exhibit for tonkean macaques and lowland anoas with a walkway. Could be a great addition.
- other projects includes arrivals of lowland tapirs, capuchins, bactrian camels...
 
Antoine said:
Some news from my tuesday's visit :
- the two striped hyenas are on show and going well. So cute to see !
- there are no more bactrian deer and wapiti. The first one are expected to come back in the future.
- there is only one american moose left (9 years old male). The park try to place it somewhere else. After he leaves they will take european mooses.
- the watusis exhibit is been refurbished for red river hogs (new species). The building works are going on and the exhibit will be ready for opening next year. The watusis are now with the zebras and ostriches in the former giraffes' exhibit.
- the chinese dhole pack will be change at the end of the year. 10 or more animals will go to Ecozonia - Terre de Prédateurs, new zoo opening in the south of France. La Haute-Touche will form a new pack with some former females and new males.


- now I can say that it will be done. The park is expecting estimates for the houses. We will have to wait for one or two years as always for the Museum before it takes shape !
- a second western baboons island is still on the desk but waiting for money (the island is already done). It will be home for twelve male baboons (one of the three groups in Paris Zoological Park).
- there is a project of mixed exhibit for tonkean macaques and lowland anoas with a walkway. Could be a great addition.
- other projects includes arrivals of lowland tapirs, capuchins, bactrian camels...
Click to expand...

The Wapiti enclosure still had animals in it yesterday. Only seen from a large distance, so could be either Red Deer or Wapiti....
 
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