Darting his piercing gaze at us, a massive white tiger slowly approaches, as if on the prowl. Clinging to their fence, tamarins, playful, seem to taunt us. A very young okapi comes closer, wagging his questioning ears, a brown bear comes closer, below the bridge, to stare at us. And this crane follows our progress with its elegant approach by shouting in our direction… In the alleys of the ZooParc de Beauval, which is about to reopen on Tuesday June 2, after two and a half months of closure linked to the epidemic of Covid-19, a certain curiosity animates a number of animals crossed this Saturday during a tour of the Loir-et-Cher park. Our presence intrigues them, perhaps rejoices them? "Some were looking for the public during confinement," smiles Rodolphe Delord, the president of the zoo. They must have felt like a lack and came more towards us than usual, especially the felines and the great apes ”.
Three days before the grand reopening of the Beauval zoo, at the start of the second phase of deconfinement, he showed us around. "Smaller zoos were able to reopen before by prefectural exemption, but we preferred not to do the forcing and give up the long weekends of Ascension and Pentecost, however the two largest of the year, to be ready and reopen smoothly, ”he says.
"It's been a month that we've had a target on June 2," he adds, detailing the sanitary measures put in place, these 80 distributors of hydroalcoholic gel disseminated, the directions of traffic - blue and red arrows - painted on the ground along the 10 km of aisles… "Wearing a mask is recommended in the aisles, compulsory in greenhouses, the dome or even the cabins of the cable car," he specifies. The restaurants have removed indoor tables to respect distances and the terraces have been enlarged ”.
"We are no longer used to seeing people"
"Huan Huan! Huan Huan! " Two sleeves made from fireman's hoses in his arms, Fabien calls the female panda who does not have to be asked to come and receive his package. Inside, granules which she loves. “Pandas are cabotins and like to be photographed, but from there to know if they are waiting for the public, I don't know, blows the healer. What is certain is that when the aisles are full, they come to stand in front of the crowd to eat their bamboo. ”
VIDEO. Beauval Zoo: the female Huan Huan panda artificially inseminated
“During the confinement, 575 park employees were placed on partial unemployment. They gradually resumed. A third ten days ago, the rest on the eve of reopening on Monday, "explains Rodolphe Delord. Just over 200 continued working to care for animals and general maintenance. "We took the opportunity to do small jobs that were always postponed, painting, DIY," he adds. The park has never looked so beautiful. ”
Under the equatorial dome, the novelty of the year, Rizlène worked during this period. She spends a disinfectant on the elevator and entrance doors. "From Tuesday, there will be 14 of us cleaning the toilet blocks and common areas, we will spend very regularly, four, five, six times more, as much as necessary depending on the number of people," explains the assistant manager of the team of cleanliness. "It's going to be a bit of a rush on Tuesday, we're not used to the world anymore. Seeing the empty park like this is sad, of course, but it was nice too. "
"During the breeding season, animals have their heads elsewhere"
For the time being, the aisles are still very empty. And silent. We hear blackbirds whistling, the water of the river of wolves trickling in the sun. A koala is napping in his hammock, a cheeky, cheerful orangutan. No better, for the lions, who stare at us with royal phlegm on their rock ... A torpor seems to have taken hold of the park, barely disturbed by the sounds of a brushcutter in the distance.
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On the islet of Capuchins, small monkeys with yellow breasts, it is Amélie who passes the edger. "We have not stopped maintaining the park, it is growing continuously, but, there, we make sure that everything is clean and beautiful for Tuesday," she explains. Among hippos, branches of reeds and banana trees strew the paths ... The park offers a small cup before its return.
"It's very strange not to hear shouts and the continuous noise of visitors," also underlines Chloé, deputy head of the sea lion sector. But we are happy to resume for the life of the zoo ”. After training sea lions, divers rub the bottom of the pool to detach algae. Sea lions have never stopped training. "They lost nothing, says the young woman, on the contrary, we had more time for learning, they progressed." On Tuesday, the shows will resume. What bothers her ... "My fear is that we attack again during the breeding season and the animals have their heads elsewhere", she smiles.
A return of the public essential to the economic survival of the site. "We have already lost 40% of our annual turnover, but the zoo also induces nearly 2,500 jobs in the area," notes the director.
Since the reopening was announced ten days ago, and even more since the confirmation that the 100 km barrier was indeed falling, reservations have resumed. "We have four to five times more connections on the site," says Delphine Delord, Rodolphe's sister, in charge of communication. In 40 years, the premises had only closed once. Because of the snow.