The Parc Animalier des Monts de Guéret Les Loups de Chabrières was created in 2001 by the Communauté d'Agglomération du Grand Guéret which wished to provide the territory with a strong attraction as a tourist entrance.
The site is unique in France because of its landscape approach, the size of the enclosures and the low density of wolves, which provides the wolf with favorable conditions for its development by placing it in a natural environment, in semi-liberty.
The visitor can thus improvise himself as a naturalist observer, thanks to the set-up of the blinds, and approach an authentic animal evolving in a wild environment. A protected nature and a certain escape which ensure a quality observation of the various packs from the fitted out blinds.
In 2015 new animals, new wolf packs, new routes appeared.
The House of the Wolf
On the first floor of the Maison du Loup and covering 250 m2, the exhibition space is a mine of information on the wolf but especially on the relationship between man and wolf, their representations, their history and their evolution.
Through historical facts or legendary tales, the public approaches the different types of relationship that societies have maintained with the wolf and thus understands the collective image of the wolf, and the sometimes extreme positions taken on the animal.
It also places the wolf in the ecosystem it occupied a few years ago, in its role as a predator but also as a biological regulator of species. The exhibition, committed to the search for meaning, presents the information and the work of scientists in a visual way that is accessible to all.
The exhibition is organized into three themes:
- the imaginary wolf of tales, myths and legends: the wolf child, the wolf leader or lycanthropy,
- the path of destruction, followed in Europe until a few decades ago,
- the path of protection, now retained by the international conventions of Washington and Bern.
The scientific vocation
The Parc Animalier des Monts de Guéret regularly receives students in biology or psychology from the Universities of Limoges, Poitiers, Bordeaux, Marseille, Rennes, Tours, Paris, Lille, Liège... but also from the veterinary school of Maison Alfort. They find here a privileged field of study on various themes such as the understanding of the hierarchical structure, the use of the territory, the improvement of the living conditions in captivity, the nutrition...
The Park also supports various national organizations such as FERUS (formerly Groupe Loup France) or groups such as Loup.org, allowing visits and exchanges with defenders of the wolf cause in France and Europe.
A documentary film, "Lobo, loup de Chabrières", of a dozen minutes reveals the different behaviors of the wolf and the pack, from mating to birth, through games, hunting and the designation of the alpha wolf, leader of the clan.
The route in two loops
After leaving the protected space of the inhabited enclosure, the visitor enters the real time of discovery. He joins the forest to throw himself into the mouth of the wolf...
Following the extension of the park, two routes are now available:
- The small loop
This route is accessible to people with reduced mobility and allows you to enjoy the mini-farm enclosures, to discover the white wolves in the summit enclosure and to see the woodland enclosure where the stags live.
- The big loop
This trail includes the small loop and continues through the other wolf and wildlife enclosures.
It descends in a regular slope and distributes the paths that give access to the different observation points.
In the form of blinds, they provide a discreet perspective on the wolf, its behavior and its movements. Information panels on the animal and its life within the pack are also installed.
The wolves of Chabrières
Animal park of the Monts de Guéret
Forest of Chabrières,
place called Puy de la Mazade
23000 Sainte-Feyre
Tel : 05 55 81 23 23
https://www.loups-chabrieres.fr
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