Le Parc Zoologique de Fréjus opened its doors to the public in 1971.  It was André Léotard, the (then) Maire of Fréjus, who originally approached Hubert Masquefa, the park’s creator, with a view to constructing a zoological park as a tourist attraction in his town.

Animals in cages are a thing of the past and for some time, the owners of the park in Fréjus have been planning to refurbish many of their exhibits to provide their animals with more natural, stimulating environments.   To this end, they have been discussing the possibility of swapping certain parcels of land with La Mairie de Fréjus, which owns much of the surrounding countryside.  After 6 years of negotiation, an agreement has been reached and the park can get on with its plans.  We went along to meet the staff and find out more.

“If we could talk to the animals, just imagine it - Chatting to a chimp in chimpanzee…”

I dunno about chimpanzees, but it was definitely brass monkeys weather at Le Parc Zoologique de Fréjus when we arrived at 8.00 am, two hours before the park opened to the public.

We were greeted by Valérie Mandier, the head keeper, who was in the middle of preparing the morning feeds.  Valérie led us past the Pythons and into the tiny kitchen area where every available space was taken up with buckets and bowls and the air was fragrant with the smell of chopped apples, bananas and carrots, donated by the local “Carrefour” supermarket.

“We do our best to cater to the animals’ individual needs,” Valérie explains. “Obviously we have to improvise when certain fruit or vegetables are out of season.  When that happens, we try and find a suitable substitute, with the same nutritional values.”

The animals certainly don’t do badly: there are enough different kinds of fruits and vegetables to cater for every taste.  The feed preparation is part of the daily routine and, with the animals in the park consuming 800 kilos of food per day (not including hay), one starts to get an idea of the colossal amount of work involved. 

“We spread the food out into two or three meals per day,” Valérie goes on, “it helps keep the animals stimulated and gives the keepers a chance to see all the animals regularly and spot any problems.  The morning feed is especially important from the keepers’ point of view, because that’s when we make sure all the animals have passed a good night and there are no illnesses or injuries that need seeing to.”

No such thing as a 35-hour working week

Does the staff have fixed working hours? 

Valérie laughs: “It’s not quite like that when you’re working with animals,” she replies.  “There’s no such thing as a 35-hour working week for us.  We work 39 hours at least and if an animal gets sick or is about to give birth or something, then we’ll stay with them as long as necessary to make sure they’re OK. 

“You have to be passionate about this kind of work and you can’t be constantly looking at the clock.  And, don’t forget, the animals need to get fed and cleaned out and taken care of all year round - even on Christmas Day!”

”...Imagine talking to a tiger...”

We leave Valérie to the unenviable task of chopping all that fruit and veg and go to meet Mahmoud Chaalali, the man in charge of the big cats.  To our delight, he invites us to meet “Cherkan”, the park’s tiger cub, which was born at Fréjus but was rejected by its mother.  Mahmoud acts as the cub’s surrogate mother.

Cherkan’s concrete enclosure is stark, but Valérie has already explained the necessity of this:  since his mother didn’t nurse him, the cub didn’t receive the precious “colostrum” from his mother’s milk, which would have boosted his immune system and helped him fight off infection.  As a result, Cherkan could be vulnerable to certain types of infection and the concrete enclosure is easier to keep clean, thus avoiding a build up of potentially harmful bacteria.

Although Cherkan is still tiny (about the size of a medium-sized dog), Mahmoud is careful to shield us from the cub’s teeth, which presumably even at that young age, could deliver a painful nip.  The cub is thrilled to see Mahmoud and rolls over to have his tummy rubbed. 

Cherkan already eats a kilo and a half of meat per day and while “Carrefour” provides the fruit and veg, the park is not so fortunate with the meat, granulated feed and hay, which it has to pay for.   A sign on the wall itemises the animals’ daily consumption: 120kg of red meat, 14kg of chicken, 800kg of fodder, 150kg of granulated feed, 80 kg of bread - a rather daunting shopping list.

Next, Mahmoud takes us to see some of his older charges.  There are two tigers, a lioness and a black panther, all about the same age, sharing an enclosure.  The biggest male tiger is evidently “top cat” but seems nervous of us: he bares his enormous teeth and snarls.  Mahmout is quick to rush forward and soothe him, making shushing sounds and clucking like a mother hen. The keeper seems unaware of the irony that this gigantic tiger should be afraid of two wimpy journalists!

Bidding farewell to the big cats, we head off to meet Julien, a 22 year old keeper, who is the latest addition to the staff and full of enthusiasm for his job.  Julien’s in charge of the care and feeding of the White-Handed Gibbons, the Marabou Storks, Lemurs, Kangaroos and “Bebere”, a young, male Tapir, which is a relatively new arrival at the Parc and clearly one of Julien’s favourites. 

For the moment, Bebere is on his own in the enclosure, but Julien hopes the Tapir will soon be paired up with a suitable mate.  We go inside for a closer look: Bebere is about the size of a large, adult pig and a little shy of strangers (the fact that we smell of tiger probably doesn’t help). 

“...Maybe take an animal degree...”

Until quite recently, there was no specific qualification or training course for becoming a zoo keeper in France, but Julien is part of the new generation of keepers, who have studied and gained a recognised certificate in the profession of being a “soigneur animalier”. 

Julien explains the qualification is on a par with the standard French BEP exam, beginning when the student finishes their troisième year at school, and includes a seven month long practical training course.  Julien spent his seven months working here, at the park in Fréjus.

“I worked here from the September to March,” he says, “and then after I’d qualified I had a phone call from Valérie to say they had a part time vacancy, was I interested?  I jumped at the opportunity!”

Is he enjoying it?  “I love it,” he replies.  “I look forward to coming to work - it’s never boring or repetitive.  When you’re working with animals, you’re never really sure what to expect and there’s always something different going on.  C’est génial!”

We follow Julien around as he wades across shallow moats to deposit food on the islands where the Gibbons and Lemurs live.

These animals are already benefiting from the park’s ongoing refurbishment: their enclosures are completely new, and there is not a fence or piece of wire in sight.  Instead, there are wooden huts, raised off the ground for warmth and shelter, purpose-built caves, tall climbing poles with ropes stretched across to allow for climbing and swinging, as the animals would do in their natural habitats.

Does Julien have any ambitions for the future?  “I’d like to work with the elephants,” he says.  “That’s what I’d really like to do.”  He glances wistfully over at the elephant enclosure as he speaks.  “I’m hoping I might get the chance in a couple of months, but we’ll have to wait and see.”

We make our way back to Valérie to find out more about the park’s refurbishment plans.  She explains that under the deal they have struck with the Mairie, the park will actually lose 5 of its 20 hectares (it is relinquishing some of its land at the side of the A8 autoroute).  However, the land it is receiving in return is better-adapted to the park’s needs and allows for more developmental scope.

The more visitors, the quicker the new enclosures

The keepers are keen to see the last remaining primitive cages - throwbacks to a time when there was little awareness of a captive animal’s psychological needs - replaced with modern enclosures which will provide the animals with essential stimulation and offer them an improved quality of life.   Construction has already begun in certain areas, but budget remains an issue.

The park, which is 100% privately-owned, is entirely reliant upon the entrance fee paid by visitors to finance its turnover and renovation projects.  The number of visitors who visit the park is directly linked to the weather and if there is a sustained period of bad weather, then visitors are few and far between and this is reflected in the park’s finances.  So, in a nutshell, the more paying visitors the park receives, the quicker the animals will have their new enclosures.   

Whether or not zoos should exist in this day and age is a subject of debate: some think that keeping animals in captivity is wrong and should be abolished; others argue that zoos play an essential role in the preservation and conservation of many endangered species, some of which have all but disappeared in the wild.

Valérie, Julien and the rest of the team clearly fall into the latter category.  They are passionate about the animals they look after and proud of the fact that the park is participating in captive breeding schemes to boost the numbers of critically-endangered animals, such as the Oryx and numerous species of Lemur.  Their enthusiasm is infectious and they have promised to keep us up to date with news of any births or interesting developments.

In the meantime, if you’d like to see how they’re getting on, why not visit the park?  It’s a great place for children to learn about exotic wildlife and conservation issues and it’s a pleasant way to spend half a day, or longer.  There are snack and refreshment facilities, plus shady tables where visitors can sit down and enjoy a picnic.  The staff are polite, friendly and happy to share their knowledge about the animals.  They speak a certain amount of English, assisted by hand signals when necessary (what they lack in vocabulary, they make up for with enthusiasm!).

The Parc Zoologique de Fréjus is open 365 days a year.  Entrance costs 13 Euros for adults and children over 10 years, 9 Euros for children aged between 3 and 9 years.  Free for children under 3.  Reduced rates for groups of 20 or more adults.

For more information and park opening hours, see: www.zoo-frejus.com or give them a call on 04.98.11.37.37.

Article from The Var Reporter, issue March/April 2008.

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