In Lyon, the future of the Parc de la Tête d’Or zoo creates tensions

Primates deprived of fresh air, giraffes too cramped, panthers going in circles… Saturday, November 30, a rally will bring together activists in front of the gates of the Parc de la Tête d’Or, in Lyon. “For us, there can and must only be one course: the closure of the zoo,” declares Amandine Sanvisens, co-founder of the PAZ association, at the origin of the call to demonstrate.

Since the mid-19th century, the green lung of Lyon has housed a nine-hectare zoological space, which accommodates nearly 400 animals and receives several million visitors each year. For many Lyonnais and tourists, the zoo is considered an institution “what’s more, it’s municipal and free”underlines Laurence Croizier, elected opposition member (LR) and member of its steering committee.

400 animals and millions of visitors

The arrival of environmentalists at town hall in 2020 had raised hopes of radical change among opponents, who regularly point out its reception conditions, from the very modest size of the enclosures to the behavioral disorders of certain species. “Wild animals have no place in enclosures », declared Grégory Doucet, a few months before taking charge of the city.

Today, the discourse is completely different. “We never promised closure! “, underlines his deputy for biodiversity and animal condition, Gautier Chapuis. Emphasizing the importance of the site “so that the people of Lyon can understand and defend biodiversity”, the chosen one rather evokes a transition, from a place of exhibition to a place of conservation of endangered species and raising awareness among the general public.

As a result, this search for compromise between attachment to the animal condition and the weight of a long-standing heritage has relaunched the mobilization: in September, a petition collected nearly 20,000 signatures and sixteen associations specializing in animal protection have just written to the mayor to ask him to go further.

€500,000 invested since the start of the mandate

Since the start of the mandate, €500,000 has been released for developments, already carried out or about to start: revegetation and modification of the little train circuit “for the peace of animals”, expansion of some enclosures, such as that of the pink flamingos, new display for the public… The fate of the animals will be addressed “on a case by case basis” : the crocodiles were sent to a Moroccan park, and the lion, which died, was not replaced.

An anecdotal shift for the association of opponents, which is concerned about the future of large mammals in situation “emergency”. “The town hall says it has difficulty finding a suitable future for them, but our offers of shelter have gone unanswered,” says Amandine Sanvisens, who emphasizes that the drop in the number of animals “mythical” could disappoint future visitors.

Also essential, the expansion of the enclosures appears to be limited in the heart of the second largest city in France. “Several urban zoos have recently made the decision to close”she added. Strasbourg, in 2022, Nancy, in 2020.

A chronic lack of money and outdated infrastructure

Teacher-researcher in contemporary history and specialist in human-animal relations at the University of Lyon 3, Éric Baratay recalls that the argument “animal protection” had already been initiated by many zoos at the end of the 1970s, to calm a first wave of protests. “In reality, their role is really minimal.” Today, the Tête d’Or is home to only around thirty threatened species, out of more than 60.

Like many other public zoos, “the Lyon establishment is experiencing a chronic lack of money: successive municipalities are hesitant to finance real change and we find ourselves with completely outdated infrastructures”, he summarizes. At the golden head, the “African savannah”, inaugurated in 2006, corresponds to a model from the 1970s. “This is what continues to happen today, while the public’s view is evolving at great speed.”

While ethological work is increasing and ecological awareness is awakening, the transition of a zoo is a matter of “utopia”according to Éric Baratay: “a zoo is made for men; if we want to sell a place made for animals, we create a natural park! “. The only viable option, according to the researcher: conserve only two or three species and provide them with a perfectly adapted living environment.