She is 9 months old and her integration is going very well.
The young European elk, who does not yet have a name, learned very quickly to live with Alpen (a 2-year-old male who arrived from Austria last year), Viola, a 10-year-old female, and Vigo , Viola's 3-year-old son... “She is in transition here,” explains Clément Leclerc, guide of the Forêt d'Orient regional natural park.
“It allows him to see other moose, and to live properly, before going not so far from here, to a park in Yvelines with which we are in partnership.”
This transfer was decided following the death of the little moose's mother.
Already weaned, her life was no longer in danger.
However, it remained to learn community life, and above all to protect itself from predators and aggressive males, alongside other older members of its species.
“These are animals that are better in their heads, better in their legs, if they learn to live among the same species,” confirms Clément.
“And it’s all the more enriching for them to be with other animals, like us with dogs and cats, and ultimately like in the wild.
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The Rambouillet park is currently building an enclosure suitable for housing several elk, including the small female.
In the meantime, the Espace Faune took over, because the Zoodyssée park in Villiers-en-Bois feared difficult cohabitation with a breeding male.
“This is not a zoo”
At Espace Faune, animals live in harmony in a preserved 52-hectare setting on the shores of Lake Orient, right next to the Forêt d'Orient nature reserve.
“This is not a zoo,” reminds the park guide.
“We have around ten species and four enclosures, including our largest of more than twenty hectares where six different species are mixed, like a sort of European savannah.”
All the difference with a classic zoo, where the enclosures are smaller, reserved for a single species.
“If you can see the animal constantly, the enclosure is too small,” he says.
The young moose therefore rubs shoulders in semi-freedom with aurochs, tarpan horses, deer, fallow deer and Mediterranean mouflons.
They feed as if they were in the wild, even if racks are visible on the path.
Food supplements are available to them in winter.
At the Espace Faune, you can also come across Ouessan sheep and dwarf goats outside the enclosure.
LP/Jonathan Sottas
On the way, we also appreciate the area of European bison and wild boars, we come across Ouessan sheep and dwarf goats outside the enclosure, which, with a little luck, will let themselves be approached.
And then we will carefully observe from afar the more timid Przewalski deer and horses, “one of our two species currently being re-introduced with European bison”, explains Clément Leclerc.
Coming from Mongolia, “It is the last species of wild horse, there is a very precise and very selective international exchange program to know which individuals are released and under what conditions”.
A 2.5 km trail ideal for family walks
Here, a breath of fresh air is guaranteed, winter and summer, thanks to the numerous shaded areas.
We appreciate the singing of the birds, the rays of the sun trying to find their way into the heart of the woods, and this contact with the animals in the great outdoors.
You simply have to take your time on this 2.5 km trail, at least 1h30, and bring a telescope or binoculars (the park rents them for 2 euros) to be able to discover them from afar.
“They are not necessarily fearful, but as they are comfortable, they are sometimes lying on the ground, hidden, going about their life,” smiles the guide.
Also read: What to do with your children in Aube during the winter holidays?
Open since 2010 in its current form, the Wildlife Area welcomes 20,000 visitors per year.
This Wednesday, February 28, in the middle of the Aube school holidays, families are enjoying the park on this beautiful winter afternoon.
“It’s the first time we’ve come,” confides Clotilde, who came from the Trojan area with her two young children to observe “animals that we don’t necessarily see every day.”
Romain and Céline, a couple from a neighboring village, are regulars.
Equipped with the annual pass, they have had around fifty visits over the past three years.
“Nature, noise, animals that are not necessarily from the Wildlife Area, like little mice, frogs, squirrels… We like all that,” explains Romain.
“And the numerous walks with the guide taught us to settle down and take the time to observe,” concludes Céline.