Latest edition : 03 August 2014
Ostriches nonchalantly cross the road in front of our car. Black bears are napping by the side of the road. With great grace, antelopes accompany us part of the way. The giraffes lengthen their court to try to snatch fruit from the orchard opposite. The rhinos are watching.
Cameras keep clicking. No, we are not in Africa but are still on an exotic safari. On the holiday route, or for a weekend, Peaugres, in the north of the Ardèche, invites you to get away from it all. 40 years ago, Paul Comte de La Panouse created a fabulous animal park here. More than 960 animals from all continents representing 130 species live there: elephants, white rhinos, black bears, Somalian donkeys, giraffes, lions, hyenas, red pandas, lemurs to name only the best known.
The game drive starts near the elephant enclosure. In the African plain, we see zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, Somali donkeys, Watussi oxen. We walk slowly, the windows rolled up. Here we are in the North American forest under the impassive gaze of the bison. The windows remain closed because the black bears are not far away, they perch in the trees, splash around in the ponds... A little further on, all the cars stop: a polar bear is playing ball in a room of 'water.
Last stage of the car safari, the Asian valley with its antelopes, cervicapres from India and deer from Vietnam, a species that has disappeared in the wild. Crossing three continents in 7 kilometers is pretty good!
The exploration continues on foot. Wallabies, primates, adorable red pandas, colorful macaws amaze young and old visitors. Those funny animal cries? Quite simply visitors jumping on “squeaky cushions”. Halfway through, picnic tables invite you to take a break while the children let off steam in the playground or go to discover the animals of Léonie's farm.
Thrills guaranteed in the Greenhouse with 1000 hiding places with its pythons, boas, crocodiles and other friendly reptiles! Not to mention the not always friendly insects and tiny frogs!
Equally impressive, unless the lions are napping (which they often do), the crossing of space claws and fangs under a glass tunnel. The hyenas take care of their young by chasing the males, lions and tigers jump on the roof of the tunnel...
More relaxing, the aquatic area with Cape penguins, sea lions. The trainers explain the medical training of the animals which should allow them to be able to touch them to treat them: put eye drops in the eyes of a sensitive rhino, apply moisturizer to the back of another rhino suffering from cracks.. .The sea lions let their mouths be cleaned with a small brush...
The basement of the castle is shrouded in mystery...
We don't just observe animals. The children follow Gaspard the cheetah and Lola the otter, discover "not stupid huts", challenge their parents to stand on one leg like flamingos, suspended by their arms like a monkey. No matter how well you perform, the animals always win!
