zoo de doue la fontaine

We lived in San Diego for a period so we know what a great zoo is. We honestly had mild expectations for our visit here, but we were thoroughly surprised with how great it was! We loved the scavenger show, the variety of animals and how close you could view them while maintaining decent enclosures for the animals. Our whole family loved our day here.

With or without children - brilliant. Lovers of birds or animals - fantastic! What a place! The animals looked happy, their enclosures were large and clean and no animal was alone. They all had company. For me it was the bird aviaries that made the visit for me. They were huge. As you walk around in them the birds are flying free. After climbing one small artificial mountain I came face to face with a male Condor - woo! And on the way down a Turkey Vulture! If you are planning a visit to the Loire Valley - please go! I think we paid 16 or 17 euros entry - worth every centime. Sorry no dogs allowed but there is sheltered parking in the car park.

Excellent Bio Parc, beginning with a good picnic area by the car park (well laid out with trees for shade) then entering a different world of animals, birds and plants, all beautifully presented, with all the animals in 'native' habitat, great viewing platforms - no cages! Vulture walk a highlight!

Fabulous visit especially the new Okapi enclosure, couldn't fault it so no dislikes. The bird exhibit was stunning with every specie of bird free flying it was wonderful.

It has the largest walkthrough aviary in Europe carved out of a shelled sedimentary rock quarry. The birds fly free and you feel as if you are entering their world. The enclosures are excellent. I used to work in a zoo and this place blew me away. This is how zoos should be. You must go here if you are in the area. We ended up going here twice in one day, I enjoyed this place infinitely more than disneyland.

I am a great traveller as I am sure a lot of you will know from reading my various reviews, and I have seen a lot of animals in the wild but this place simply took my breath away!I was staying in a nearby chateau on a yoga retreat and decided to explore the surrounding area, our taxi driver who was originally British had moved to France many years ago. He mentioned the bioparc as being something pretty special and I have to say we were not dissapointed!Beautifully laid out, the bioparc resides in an old quarry, so there are various levels for animals to roam in. I was SO AMAZED, the zoo is not a zoo, its more like the wild! The animals looked well and clean and had lots of space to roam around! This park is especially good since it runs a breeding programme for endangered and vulnerable species, and the accompanying information boards are in English and French! Incredible collection of animals, snow leopard and the south American bird garden is superb, no cages here, you can happily get up close and personal with the birds of prey, and other tropical beauties from countries like Somalia. An invaluable trip and an opportunity to see things you will never see in the wild..... And the beautiful Balinese wood carvings add a certain Je n'ai saiz porquois! (not the best french spelling but hopefully you get my drift, please enjoy and stick to the right and have an icecream at the end at the giraffe cafe! So much fun!!!

As many reviews says one of the most pleasant zoos certainly that I have ever come across. Super setting, loads of space and excellent cross section of major species. Very un zoo like rather more safari! Animals in super condition little evidence of stress anyway. Memorable day and very good value. Catering also excellent. Overall a must whilst in this superb area

We took our 13 month old grandaughter for a visit and I have to say we enjoyed it thoroughly. There is a vast selection of animals and the zoos main priority really does appear to be conservation and the welfare of their animals. The animals all appeared to be well cared for and the zoo really has tried to create natural surrounding dings for them. Walking into the aviary was like something out of Jurassic Park with so many species in there flying around in flocks. The scarey bit for me was the big vulture type birds in a separate section, they are massive and just sit on the path, have never been inches away from something like that, totally amazing. Plenty of viewing points at each enclosure. Plenty to keep both adults and children amazed. If you have a push chair there is an outside lift up to the higher level as the site is split on 2 levels. It has a very simple way of making sure you see everything which is keep turning right, you also get given a free English visitor guide. It was extremely hot on our visit and thankfully the majority of the zoo is in shaded areas, the only part not is Rhino Valley and I have to say it was a massive re reCreated area like nothing we have seen before. Plenty of facilities for food and rest areas. Well worth the visit and would definitely go back.

Set in a series of old quarries, the zoo offers an amazing amount of room for its animals together with excellent opportunities for visitors to observe them. The suggested well signposted tour ensures that visitors see as much as possible. There are guide leaflets in English. Watching rhinos being hand fed, wandering through the magnificent aviaries, seeing monkeys swinging through the trees, listening to the roar of the lion and enjoying many more wonderful experiences too numerous to mention all made for a very enjoyable day. All animals appeared to be in peak condition. Apart from buying an ice-cream, we did not use any of the catering facilities.

This is a very good day out. The animals all look very healthy, the zoo is energetically involved in all sorts of breeding programmes for endangered species and preservation of biodiversity. The South American aviary was the highlight for me though. 500 birds (35 species including flamingoes and red ibises) all around you. They fly past you, they are not behind wire or mesh netting, you can observe all sorts of behaviour at close range. It put such a smile on my face.The gibbons were also most entertaining and if you catch the keeper tour toward the end of the afternoon you will see them playing to the audience hilariously! Really worthy the entrance fee.

We highly recommend this zoo. It is massive, with a large variety of animals and birds. You get to walk through the bird enclosures and get close up to them. Even the vultures. At first we thought it as a bit expensive but by the time we had spent over 7hours walking through (and only seeing everything once) we ended up thinking it was fantastic value for money.Not once did any of our four children (aged 15, 12, 9 & 7 years) complain they were bored. I would love to go back again one day.

Doue Zoo is completely unique. Made up of old troglodyte caves and caverns the animals are in as natural surroundings as possible and housed to create unique mini eco-systems.We come to Doue to visit relatives but have two young kids. We got an annual pass which pays for itself if you go more than once - we went five times! Each times the animals were doing something different or in different areas, so that sometimes you have to really work to spot them and, at others, they are right in front of you.One morning we saw one of the pigmy hippos swimming under water, another time we were entertained for several minutes by the gibbons and their acrobatic show, you can catch glimpses of birds from strange angles, pet the goats and see the truly amazing rhino, zebra and giraffe spaces.We were also lucky enough to see a man carving okapis and herons while talking to the zoo's director. The director was fluent in English and explained what the sculptor was doing and how the zoo helped find him and give him a living.The whole thing is aimed at conservation and yet, if you have small children, it is wonderfully entertaining and educational for them. Ours loved all the animals - the lions, monkeys and giraffes the favourite - but also loved the tables with paw casts in, comparing paw sizes of different groups of animals.

This isn't your normal zoo: set into a disused quarry, it uses the natural topography to retain the animals so you often have clear sight of them without cages or fences. The best bit for us was the large aviaries which contain vultures, parrots / macaws, flamingos, and many other birds.The only slight let-down was the restaurant - it had a great view of the giraffes, but even at 12noon it was already packed and we left after 20 minutes and no sign of service appearing. The snack bar was much faster and did a very good steak hache. Still, a very good day out, and with a better (bigger/faster) restaurant this would rate 5 stars.

It is only a short car ride from Angers and it's a great zoo. Fun walking the trails and the exhibits are interesting. Right at the start you can see giraffes only a couple meters away. Aviaries are interesting especially with the upper walkways.

Who knew a small area could hold so much! The animals and enclosures were great. I'm not find of birds but the free flying enclosures were incredible. I've never seen a snow leopard and the two at Doue were stunning. A great day had by all