The Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes, too old to house animals as it should? This is what Association for the Defense of Animals Rights Paris Animaux Zoopolis (PAZ) says. According to members of the association, at the menagerie, “animals are living in appalling captivity conditions, especially as facilities are dilapidated, cramped, far below overall ambitions claimed by zoos”.
Even though the Council of Paris rejected PAZ’s inquiry aiming at closing the oldest zoo in Paris, deputy mayor entrusted with revegetation of the public spaces and animal welfare Christophe Najdovski has promised to inspect and assess facilities.
Our peers from Paris Zig Zag magazine quote the director of the menagerie, Michel Saint-Jalme, defending his zoo against PAZ’s accusations. “We do not hold captive but house and take care of these animals! The menagerie is 225 years old, but it has been renovated several times! Over the past 20 years, renovations undertaken enabled to widen spaces and lower the number of species. Today, on site, we gather 504 animals, there were 1,500 of them ten years ago, and 2,000 of them twenty years ago!” the director argues.
The association fighting for animal welfare wishes to transform the place “into a genuine instructive and scientific place, without animals” once they are placed in fitted shelters.
Location
Jardin des Plantes Menagerie
47-57 Rue Cuvier
75005 Paris 5
