Zoo La Palmyre
Zoo La Palmyre things to do, attractions, restaurants, events info and trip planning
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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 the pipeline.
SerpickoSerpicko
30
We visited whilst staying in La Palmyre and whilst not a zoo fan, we had a great day out. When they say you need four hours, you need four hours to be able to take it all in. There is a clearly signposted route through the zoo and also a parrot and sea lion show, which is on a couple of times through the day. There is a couple of eateries but we took a picnic with us and there was plenty of benches/tables to sit at on the way round. There is also plenty of shade so even on a hot day there’s areas to get out the sun whilst walking around. There was a huge array of different animals and species to view with both their French and English names on the info boards. You can buy some popcorn at the entry (€2.50 a bag) which you can use to feel the animals with. There’s a feeding area for the giraffes which was a delight but take some, wet wipes with you if you do as there isn’t any soap in the toilets. We arrived at 11:30 and the zoo was already very busy but still plenty of parking available. Don’t be shy to park right at the entrance to the car park, next to the road as it’s only a short walk along the road to the entrance. Also be aware that on a hit sunny day, the animals are either asleep or rather static, basking in the great La Palmyre heat. Overall it was a great day out for all ages and very reasonably priced at €19 per adult.
TweedieTweedie
20
/!\ Les tigres, les loutres d'Asie et les manchots sont indiqués sur le plan mais n'arriveront qu'en juillet 2025 (sympathique pour les personnes qui s'attendent à les voir puisqu'ils sont indiqués sur le plan malgré leur absence). Avis mitigé qui malheureusement, tend fortement vers le négatif. Nous avons visité le zoo au mois de juillet 2024. Initialement, nous pensions faire un autre zoo, mais aux vues des bons commentaires, nous avons préféré faire celui-ci. Arrivée : Si vous arrivez sous la pluie, les plans du zoo ne vous seront pas proposés. Avec le soleil, ils reviennent. Spectacle : Dès notre arrivée, nous avons pu voir le spectacle des otaries. Un spectacle trop bien rodé qui ne laisse pas place à l'improvisation. Avec des animaux, cela pose question. Tous les spectacles que j'ai pu voir (et revoir) auparavant permettaient l'erreur de l'animal, le refus de coopérer, et cela était expliqué en début de spectacle, ce qui ne posait aucun problème.Dans celui-ci, aucune erreur, aucun refus, aucune sensibilisation à la volonté propre des animaux et aucune alternative puis que les 3 otaries du zoo ont été présentées, donc pas de rotation possible. Le spectacle est surtout à destination des enfants bien que les acrobaties des otaries soient admirables. Nous n'avons pas vu le spectacle des oiseaux. Diversité animale : Le zoo propose un large panel d'espèces différentes, allant des petits oiseaux aux grands animaux tels que les éléphants, les rhinocéros...Les loutres géantes sont les mascottes actuelles du parc et sont rares à observer dans d'autres parcs animaliers, ce qui est un plus. Restauration : Plusieurs snacking se trouvent dans le parc. Il est également possible de pique-niquer. Accessibilité : Peu de marches, toujours contournables. Peu de dénivelés. Il y a beaucoup de bancs tout au long du parcours. Quelques toilettes. Espaces verts : Le parc contient de nombreux espaces verts, vides, inutilisés. C'est extrêmement dommageable de privilégier les yeux de personnes qui ne passeront qu'une journée dans le zoo au détriment des animaux qui y passeront leur vie. Bien-être animal : Selon moi, ce zoo détient des animaux en captivité dans des espaces aux dimensions scandaleuses. Certains animaux sont bien lotis (loutres géantes, flamands roses, grands singes...) au détriment d'autres animaux (surtout ceux à l'entrée du parc) qui errent, tournent en rond dans des espaces minimalistes. En passant devant les enclos des petits singes, j'ai eu la gorge nouée de les voir dans de si petites cages. Je ne pense pas que les animaux soient maltraités, ils ont de la nourriture, de l'eau,ne montrent pas de gros signes de détresse... Mais pour avoir fait de nombreux parcs animaliers, il est extrêmement rare de voir un parc avec d'aussi petits enclos pour autant d'animaux. Le lynx et les panthères n'ont même pas la place pour courir. Les enclos manquent d'enrichissement et de cachettes. Nous avons pu voir tous les animaux présents, ce qui pour moi, reste problématique. Évidemment, chaque visiteur a envie de voir tous les animaux. Mais cela montre simplement que les animaux ne peuvent pas fuir le public, ne peuvent pas se cacher, ils n'ont dans leur journée, aucun temps de répit. Un autre gros problème pour moi concerne "l'accès aux animaux". Il est possible de toucher certains animaux comme les girafes, les zèbres, les rhinocéros, les autruches et sans doute d'autres du fait des barrières basses. En plus de n'avoir que peu d'espaces, ces animaux sont sans arrêt sollicités par les visiteurs, le tout en échange de pop corn. Un animal qui a faim devra mettre sa tranquillité de côté pour obtenir de la nourriture. Impossible pour nous de passer une journée agréable au détriment des animaux. Le plaisir d'une journée dans un zoo ne mérite une vie sans la place pour se dégourdir les pattes. Sur une douzaine de zoos et parcs animaliers visités, je classe ce zoo à l'avant dernière position. Un parc beau pour les yeux, désolant pour le coeur.
Skyys EchecSkyys Echec
140
I was and still am shocked and I regret visiting the zoo in La Palmyre… cant explain why they have 4stars. the wolves are too many in a very small enclosure. They show typical psychological illness behaviors and any social interactions with eachother. Felt really bad watching them. They have no possibilities to hide, because there are no trees, holes or stones big enough in their enclosure and the few small buildings they have are completely open and visible in all directions - you can watch them from every angle. This description unfortunatley fits to the enclosures for the Lions, elephants, giraffes, rhinos, zebras, bisons, donkeys.. why arent there trees, bushes, stones? And why do you close the doors to the inner enclosures so that the animals cant hide and rest if they need it? Ah, right, because EVERYTHING in this zoo is build and designed for the visitor. I can give you a guarantee for seeing every Animal that is advertised on the Homepage or Zoomap. The sealions have the worst „home“ ever. They live in a tiny Swimmingpool and get an Electric shock if they come too close to the fence. Humans too, haha. Only people who absolutely never have heard or read anything about animalprotection would like it here. Impossible to watch the animals and interprete that they are healthy or happy.
Sylvia ThunderfartSylvia Thunderfart
70
This was one of the cleanest and biggest zoos I've ever been to. The animal enclosures were huge and well kept, the animals were so healthy and content. It was brilliantly open plan, with hands on access to a lot of animals. We got to stroke the giraffes and zebras! The goats roam freely and you can feed a lot of the animals for a small fee. I went with my family of 7 and it cost 134€ which was money well spent. The sealion show was fantastic. There's so many peacocks roaming freely as well. The food was wonderful and well priced a galette sarrasin [buckwheat pancake] was only 9 euros and tasted wonderful. I had a caesar salad for around the same price and it was huge. Highly recommended for all age groups, a great family day out!
Shelley DumayneShelley Dumayne
00
I visited here during an excursion on my recent cruise with MSC it was a fantastic day out a brilliant see you couldn't get close to the animals if you tried much better than usual series where you just viewing them through some glass you can get right up close and personal with the animals not all of them as a monkey's are not that accessible however we grateful feeding the giraffes and elephants they've got a wide variety of animals here almost every animal from The Lion King if you like The Lion King that is they also have some polar bears and seals and lots going on I've really highly recommend this place it was a great fantastic day out and would certainly revisit if I was back in the area again highly recommend
Roland AshbyRoland Ashby
00
Nearby Restaurants Of Zoo La Palmyre
El Bar'rio
La Palmeraie
Restaurant Le Rhino´s Club
El Bar'rio
4.3
(522)Click for details
La Palmeraie
4.1
(317)Click for details
Restaurant Le Rhino´s Club
4.5
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Learn more insights from Wanderboat AIBasic Info
Address
6 Av. de Royan, 17570 Les Mathes, France
Map
Phone
+33 5 46 22 46 06
Call
Website
zoo-palmyre.fr
Visit
Reviews
Overview
4.4
(12.4K reviews)
Ratings & Description
cultural
outdoor
family friendly
Description
La Palmyre Zoo is a zoo in Les Mathes, Charente-Maritime, near Royan, in southwestern France. It was created in 1966 in the forest of la Coubre by Claude Caillé.
attractions: , restaurants: El Bar'rio, La Palmeraie, Restaurant Le Rhino´s Club
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