Week 2, part 3

The last part of Week 2 was our “optional” visit to the BioParc. The BioParc is basically a zoo, but a very exceptional zoo.

A lesson in pre-history: This area of Anjou (the region around Saumur) was once covered by a vast sea. When the sea retreated, it left layers of stone that contained all kinds of fossils, still evident today. The ancient people called the troglodytes took advantage of the soft stone and built homes in the rocks.

Years ago, a man named Pierre Gay saw this area around the small town of Doué-la-Fontaine and envisioned a zoo featuring authentic animal habitats carved out of this soft stone left by antiquity.

And that is what the BioParc is today. There are habitats for animals from giraffes to leopards to penguins to gazelles to tortoises, to hundreds of other species. They have used the features of this soft rock to create unique habitats suitable to all kinds of species of animals.

The BioParc does not take animals from the wild. They rescue animals that haven’t done well in regular zoos. They propagate endangered species. They share propagation with other zoos in Europe to maintain biodiversity. They do raise some animals with an eye toward sending them back into the wild when it is appropriate.

I think I speak for both Isaiah and I when I say that our original attitude was, “We’re taking the students to a zoo? Where’s the cultural experience in that?” But after a four-hour excursion in this unique place, we understand.

It wasn’t a French cultural experience but a “citizen of the world” kind of experience. We are both glad we went to the effort to bring our students to this amazing place.

Once again, this is a vast place, and the students had “visite libre,” so it was hard to keep up with them. I looked for as many images of the students engaging with the environment and one another as I could. But I am also presenting images of some of the animals that they saw.

(And one day, I will understand the game of hide and seek that happened at the end of the day – I hope.)

 

Ailene and Estelle wanted to be 
photograqphed with their "cousins" the 
giraffes, since they are the tallest.

Cousins by themselves

In the arms of nature

Penguins!

Kayla seems interested.

Photographing the birds.

Sophie after the bird swoop!

They find the camera no matter where I am!

Vultures can reduce a dead animal to
bones in 15 minutes! We saw it!

In the US, this would be a "petting zoo,"
but here it was an "African farm."
In any case, we got to pet goats.

Monsieur Isaiah found a 
friendly goat, but...

But while he wasn't looking, another snatched
his map of the facility. He chased it to no avail.

Otters are cute when they swim. They are 
also cute when they sleep.

Hey guys! What's up?

Mom with her babies.

Mom to babies, "Okay, enough!"

And what better way to end
a day than with tortosises?