Zoo La Palmyre — Attraction in Rochefort

I had never been to a French zoo before and had assumed an experience similar to Dublin Zoo...it's very different. Firstly the animals are far closer and more "accessible". The first enclosure for the flamingos is literally inside the front door, and they are arms length away at points. The flamingos looked vibrant and happy in the 30 degree sunshine, flaunting their sunny pinkness to their Dublin comrades.

Our first port of call was the Giraffes...where u can literally feed them popcorn from your hand!! My first impression was I'm back in a Victorian Zoo, with an elephant ride up next...but I really enjoyed it!! Seeing the animals up close is a completely different experience. I'm sure there are raging debates in zoologist circles about the wisdom of hand feeding Giraffes popcorn...But they certainly seemed to enjoy it. My son loves Giraffes and this blew his mind.

There is a lot to do and see, and on a warm day we picked out a few highlights. There is an amphitheatre where u can watch the sea lions perform tricks for food. 2 shows daily but we missed this. Wouldn't be a big fan of this so not bothered.

The elephant enclosure again was far more accessible, there is a small mote with almost 360 degrees viewing angles. U could buy some sort of nuts to feed the elephants. I was initially horrified as I could see people throwing things across to the elephants, before I realized it was allowed. Kinda not sure about this. Turned this majestic animal into a Jack Russel looking for treats (with killer tusks). The enclosure was very large, so I guess they could wander off if it was bothering them 😕

Towards the back of the zoo there are chimps and orangutans. Given the scorcher of a day these animals were flaked out in the shade. Their enclosure was huge with an indoor area too. Lots of waterfalls, Jurassic Park vibes.

We finished the trip seeing alligators and reptiles! There is plenty to do and see, with food options too. Huge free car park beside it, about €74 for a family ticket for 4. Worth a visit if u are...

I'm not usually a fan of Zoos and try to keep away from them. I usually find zoo enclosures depressingly small and dirty. I went here as a group of friends we were with wanted to go. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised at how good the vast majority of the enclosures were, especially for the larger apes and monkeys. The enclosures were large and open with structures inside for the animals to use. The ape house appeared to be quite new, again they were large, clean and airy for the animals with structures for them to climb. The rhino enclosure was also large with plenty of space for the animals to run. All of the enclosures were spotlessly clean and had clearly been raked through that day. Whilst we were there I noticed several of the enclosure moats had been drained and were being scrubbed clean by keepers, really nice to see!

The park was well laid out with plenty of toilets along the way. There is central area with a good gift shop with good quality items on sale (Though the prices reflect this). There was also a good area with only two tills which had large queues at lunch time.

My biggest complaints were in relation to the sizes of enclosures for the larger cats such as the leopards, lions and tigers. The enclosure for the giraffes surely cant be big enough, with nothing for them to do other than have visitors feeding them endless hanfulls of popcorn. They seemed too small for these animals which had a negative impact on our overall visit otherwise I would have scored the visit higher.

Overall I'm still not a fan of Zoos though I acknowledge they have a role in conservation. I like what they're doing here and actually had a good day. I hope larger enclosures for the big cats are in...

Zoo was peaceful and lovely to walk around, the kids loved interacting with the goats spent alot of time there, UNFORTUNATELY some animals environments were not suitable ,claustrophobic, felt extremely small was not impressed.

Elephants were looking drained, the cheetah had a REALLY EXTREMELY SMALL HABITAT FOR ITS SPECIES and it was pacing up and down the CAGE to get out of its miserable life. Some animals identity,aswell as ther encloser and living state were HIDDIN from the publics eye.

They seals have a SHOCKINGLY smal area I was certainly not atall satisfied with any of this, seals seemed to act as if they have been beaten viciously and not kept well. Seal show was absolutely astonishing was thrilled with how they majesticly, glided across the shiny glittering water.

THE GIFT SHOP PRICES WERE SKY HIGH !!!! MY HEAD BOUCED OF THE ROOF I FELT THE FORCE AS I LOOKED AT THE PRICE TAGS MY JAW FELL TO THE FLOOR AND WOULDNT COME UP. Was certainly not impressed..

I feel terable for all the animals, especially the ones that get treated badly comparing to the goats.

Loved every bit of the day out here in la palmyre would 100000 percent recommend for families and great weather. You would need a whole day here. Gorgeous toys in gift shop make great presants for loved ones

Was not impressed by the racist monkeys,they were violently shouting the horrible N word at me and maliciously laughing in my face while...