When on holiday in the Languedoc region, en route to Montpellier, my parents told my sister and I they had a surprise for us. We had no idea just how bad it would be. As we neared our destination, we saw signs for a "zoo". As expected we were excited. It was free, what could be better? For a start, a zoo that actually had animals. For ages, we saw nothing but wooden animal sculptures and endless empty exhibits. What a joke of a zoo! It got marginally better upon seeing bears and wolves which we don't see at our local zoo, but even then the few animals we saw looked unhappy. Altogether a speedy visit to a woodland area with a few animals, no evidence of zookeepers/zoo personnel (bar the ticket sellers) and a half finished playground which would've been the zoo's best asset had it been complete. The best bit of the zoo? The blackberries in the car park. Don't waste time seeing this zoo, go to others that are worth the time.
We went today on a blisteringly hot day, so only walked to the lion & monkey enclosures after doing the Amazonian Greenhouse which has some amazing creatures inside - even one that this zoo addict had never seen before (a Coendou).The enclosures are huge, which is probably why you can't see the animals as they hang out at the far side (and wouldn't you if a load of strange creatures came to stare at you?). I think that makes it a great zoo for the animals, but recognise that it makes a slightly less exciting experience for humans visiting.I would definitely come back for a wander, and second all the other points about bringing a buggy if you have kids under 6 - it's going to be a long wander. But the Amazonian Greenhouse (Sa Serre Amazonia) is 30-45 mins of entertainment, so if you're in the neighbourhood - the 6.50 euro fee for adults, and with kids under 6 going free makes it definitely worth stopping by We didn't try the restaurant, although it seemed busy when we left - but if you have a car, it might be worth stopping at the large supermarket (Carrefour, Market) which is on the way there. More choice than the ham sandwiches available in the zoo shop (as an alternative to the restaurant), which were totally fine with my 5 & 2 year old boys.
The zoo is in a very nice spacious environment. There's many great animals to see and the best thing about it all, is that it's free.
I visited on a warm day 11 September 2014 and there seemed to be very few other people there. As others have commented, there's a lot of walking to do at this site. Apparently there's 11km of paths, although I didn't do all that! Also, there's much work going on at the site at present which results in path diversions.Perhaps the animals were hiding out of the heat as I saw very few of them. The ones I liked best were the wooden sculptures of animals dotted around the site. Still, I suppose it is difficult to complain as entry is free!You do have to pay thoug to go into the Amazon experience and that is worth doing as there is much more going on in there than the rest of the park put together!
So, we went to the zoo with high hopes - having looked online and seen fantastic photos - some as recent as June 2014, there were cheetahs, bears, lions and wolves - 2 of which aren't available at our local zoo. After aimlessly driving round in the busy car parks - yes plural we found a space in a rather empty car park - feeling we'd triumphed the idiots who hadn't noticed it!We arrived at the entrance, preparing to pay, only to be told it was free (there was a sign with the same statement). This struck as odd, and we debated why it may be: New zoo? Abandoned? Free on Sundays? Free one day a month? It was terrible? Or simply as an act of good will to tourists?We eagerly headed for the lions passing parrots and some camely things... A little trek later we found wooden lion sculptures, and at the end of the path exhibits, it looked empty from here but there was a marvellous picture of lions nearby, so we turned the next corner... Nothing! 2 empty exhibits, not a lion or monkey in sight (claims were wrong). By the time we reached the next sculptures we started to think that it was some sculpture park in the woods, and then we saw bears, both looked old and a little unloved - and no sign of staff to care for them..? Toilets didn't have locks, paper and could see in. There were no other facilities. After seeing many empty exhibits we thought the best thing to do was have lunch (picnic). The play area (due to open June 2014) was still blocked off, so really nothing going on there. My advise is that you pay to go around the Amazon attraction at the beginning and leave the rest, luckily it was free though.
This parc is well worth a visit if you want to spend the day out in a zoo. You could do a whole day here if you brought a picnic and plenty of places to have it. Warm weather tends to make the animals lethargic and occasionally hard to spot as they take shelter but considering this place is free (only the attached Tropical section indoors is payable if you choose to go these, even parking is free) you have usually plenty to see. Take care on hot days, take water. As you can wander about the tracks freely, there are plenty of opportunities to get shots of the animals and you can often see some pro kit and very long lenses on monopole and tripods. Let's face it, you are almost in the centre of a city and you have some clear photo opportunities for big game photos!!Only issue we ever have, apart from forgetting to take water, is if you pick a busy day then you might struggle for parking near the entry.
We enjoyed our half day with the family at the parck zoologique Henri de Lunaret. Prepare for a lot of walking so put on a good shoes!
This is a great place to have a walk, away from the city. But be careful of the season cause the animals are inside when its too cold or when its rainning.
Very nice, and free, zoo in the middle of a green oak and pine trees forest. Sometimes hard to spot animals as they are in open sapce rather than cages, but just walking in the park is a nice and relaxing experience.
I had to take the tram and bus to get to this zoo. To see each animal it was a long trek and the weather was hot too, make sure you bring bottles of water to drink. The animals looked healthy but they were always hiding or resting out of the hot sun so we did not see very much. It was a very disappointing visit and most visitors were having picnics on the tables provided. Parts of the zoo was going through reconstruction too.