Zoo, le défi de demain

A few hours before the opening of the season at the Bioparc, an extreme cold spell, accompanied by heavy snowfall, hit the region.

It is to the rhythm of the animals that the Bioparc lives all year round. Veterinarians are concerned about the health of a very weak giant turaco. Like three other birds of this rare species, it has been placed in quarantine. The next few hours will be decisive for their chance of survival. In the leopard canyon, the flooded lodge of the Java panther gives the technical team a hard time to find the source of the leak.

Promoting the reproduction of endangered animals is one of the challenges that the Bioparc faces every day. Only one year after the construction of the new space dedicated to vultures, the team placed an egg abandoned by its parents in an incubator. It is the hope of a new life, destined to be released into nature. Part of the veterinary team will also work with a female rhino to optimize the well-being of this unique animal.

In the okapi sanctuary, the Bioparc team impatiently awaits the arrival of a female okapi to form a couple with the male already present.

The season follows its course at the Bioparc but no question of remaining on its achievements. One year after the opening of the space dedicated to the Himalayan fauna, it is time for the Bioparc to look further and imagine an extension of the zoo: a space of 2.5 hectares devoted to lions and cheetahs. And in the valley of the black rhinos, the attention of the healers does not weaken. In both females, disturbing cracks appear on their legs.

The veterinarians have planned an extraordinary intervention: the surgical operation of three giraffes in the enclosure of the Bioparc. A day that everyone is preparing for because performing anesthesia on a giraffe is a potentially risky act where every little gesture is important. This is a first in Europe, so the whole team is coordinating for this marathon day.

While the technical teams are mobilized on the site of the future space dedicated to lions and cheetahs to create the first decorative elements, Pierre, the manager of the Bioparc, leaves for Spain to reintroduce a species that has disappeared from Europe for centuries: l 'bald ibis. But an event will come to upset the team.

Pierre must transport two giraffes from the Bioparc to the Algiers zoo, by boat. For his part, his son François is testing the security of a new device for his new space.