Villiers-en-Bois, Zoodyssee
I am always a fan of collections that focus on European species and Zoodyssee is one that could become one of the best in Europe with that theme. This is currently a zoo that is in the middle of renovations and extensions and there is building activity on multiple places in the zoo.
Currently there is a large contrast between the old and the new. Some of the old enclosures look really tired (Red Fox or the European reptile building) or are just somewhat too small (e.g. several aviaries) or outdated (Griffion Vultures that cannot fly). Currently about half of the area is used for the typical wildpark enclosures for a large variety of hoofstock (Roe-, Fallow-, Red-, Rein- and Chinese Water Deer, Reeves’ Muntjac, European Elk, Mouflon, Wisent, Heck Cattle, Alpine Ibex, Konik Horse). These enclosures are huge pieces of forest, good for the animals, but quite boring. A nice European Wild Cat enclosure, with several tall climbable trees is also located here, as are Mediterranean Genets. Red Fox and Badger enclosures will be constructed here soon and a new elk enclosure was also under construction.
Reptile house
Red Fox enclosure
European Otter enclosure
Eurasian Eagle Owl aviary
European Wild Cat enclosure, all trees are fully accessible to the cats
Roe Deer enclosure
Fallow Deer enclosure
There are three areas that show the potential of this zoo. The small Mediterranean area with Greater Flamingo, Barbary Macaque and Porcupines is nice, but not really special. Then there is a mountain area, that is still partly under construction. The Pyrenean Chamois, Alpine Marmot and Brown Bear enclosures are large, well-structured and very attractive. Work is still going on for a vulture aviary and an ibex enclosure (drawings indicate Iberian Ibex, but Alpine Ibex are already in the collection). From a distance these developments look promising, with a lot of real rocks.
Barbary Macaque enclosure
European Brown Bear enclosure
Pyrenean Chamois walkthrough
The highlight is however the newly developed area focusing on the French countryside. This is a theme that is hardly present in zoos, even though it is the place with some of the highest biodiversity (losses) throughout Europe. The area is still really new and not yet completely finished, but the potential is clear. At first sight the area looks really barren, but great work has been done on replicating a large number of micro-habitats, such as hedgerows and stone walls, typical for the countryside. Education is also well done here. The collection has a number of endangered local domestic breeds, most notably the Poitou Donkey, whose main
asinerie is located closeby. The rest is mostly made up by birds, apart from Beech Marten in a too small enclosure, which is marked for Least Weasel on the map. Not all aviaries are finished yet, but Hoopoo, Turtle Dove, Cattle Egret, European Crane and others are already present. Larks, Little Owls, Quails and Scops Owl should still follow. The highlight is a large walkthrough aviary, which is very tall, but without much apparent structure at first sight. The inhabitants, including large numbers of wild Field Voles, are all characteristics of European grasslands: Little Bustard, Little Kestrel, Red-legged Partridge, Grey Partridge, European Stone-Curlew, European Roller. There is great potential and I hope they will add a little bit of structure and add more typical species, as it feels a bit too open now, though for the current inhabitants it works great. I counted six Little Bustards here and many more are kept behind the scenes, where there is a breeding centre that also houses European Mink and European Pond Turtles.
Countryside area, general view
Vineyard in the new countryside area
Main aviary with Little Bustard, Little Kestrel, Red-legged Partridge, Grey Partridge, European Stone-Curlew, European Roller
Beech Marten enclosure
I will be really curious how this zoo will develop further. There are plans for a large area with Arctic species (Wolverine, Musk Ox and others) and in the long-term future species from French Guyana will be added, unfortunately this will reduce the unique European focus of the collection, but for the zoo it is understandable they want to add some crowd-pleasing animals. It will also be interesting to see how and if they will redevelop some parts of the “older” zoo that are currently fine, but completely forgettable. This is a zoo that deserves to be on the radar of more zoo enthusiasts and with its location that should be possible.
More pictures in the gallery:
Zoodyssee - ZooChat
