- Title: Welcome to the jungle: Dome at French zoo houses endangered species
- Date: 7th February 2020
- Summary: SAINT-AIGNAN-SUR-CHER, FRANCE (FEBRUARY 7, 2020) (REUTERS) SEA COW SWIMMING UNDERWATER IN POOL INSIDE BEAUVAL ZOO'S MINI-JUNGLE KOMODO DRAGON DOME HOUSING MINI-JUNGLE WITH TROPICAL VEGETATION VEGETATION INSIDE DOME POOL INSIDE DOME VARIOUS AERIAL VIEWS OF ZOO AND DOME SQUIRREL MONKEY MISSISSIPPI ALLIGATOR SWIMMING IN POOL PYGMY HIPPOPOTAMUS IN POOL (SOUNDBITE) (French) BEAUVAL ZOO DIRECTOR, RODOLPHE DELORD SAYING: ''The goal of this tropical forest is to tour our visitors a world tour around the equator, to wow them in order to raise further awareness on the conservation of endangered species and tropical forests. What can we do from here in France to protect the tropical forests at the other side of the world? So we do a lot of awareness initiatives. Zoos are places to raise awareness on preserving biodiversity. We're also a genetic conservation centres of species and research centres. So, the idea is really to raise awareness among visitors on animals wellbeing, on biodiversity protection, which is in danger. We will have to face the sixth biggest extinction of animal and plant species, so I believe that zoos definitely have a part to play." PLANTS INSIDE DOME KOMODO DRAGON (SOUNDBITE) (French) BEAUVAL ZOO DIRECTOR, RODOLPHE DELORD SAYING: "We have the sea cow, which is a French species since it lives in French Guiana, but sea cows have disappeared from the French Antilles. There is a village in Guadeloupe named Lamantin (French word for sea cow), and there is no longer any sea cows there. They currently have a programme to re-introduce sea cows, and we would like to see them back in the Carribean. We also have the pygmy hippopotamus, which is also an endangered species and which is killed, hunted by poachers especially in Congo.'' VARIOUS OF SEA COW UNDERWATER ZOOKEEPER FEEDING SEA COWS WITH POTATOES VARIOUS OF SEA COWS UNDERWATER (SOUNDBITE) (French) HEAD ZOOKEEPER AT BEAUVAL ZOO, NICOLAS LEROUX, SAYING: "It's very exciting, what we call sea cows in English. It's a herbivore that eats only seaweed and leaves that could, for example, fall from trees. It's a quite surprising animal with regard to its behaviour because it's curious, always very calm. We don't know a lot on this animal. We still learn about them regularly, especially regarding how they communicate. Here in Beauval, we have a mother sea cow with a cub that was born only a month ago, and we also have one of our females who will soon give birth to her young. It's an animal that can reproduce increasingly well in zoos." SEA COWS UNDERWATER PLANTS INSIDE DOME PHILIPPINE HYDROSAURUS ZOO WITH LION ENCLOSURE LIONS VISITORS LOOKING AT LIONS LIONS INSIDE ENCLOSURE FLAMINGOS HIPPOPOTAMUS EXTERIOR OF BEAUVAL ZOO
- Embargoed: 21st February 2020 18:46
- Keywords: Beauval zoo animals endangered species threatened species
- Location: SAINT-AIGNAN-SUR-CHER, FRANCE
- City: SAINT-AIGNAN-SUR-CHER, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Environment,Nature/Wildlife
- Reuters ID: LVA001BZM5W7T
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Three hours from Paris at the Beauval Zoo lies a mini-jungle set inside a dome that has welcomed some of the world's most endangered animals.
With temperatures rising to 26 degrees Celsius, the dome has a surface of 13,800 square metres, almost twice that of an association football field, and imitates a tropical climate full of lush vegetation that offers a somewhat natural habitat to 200 species, from fish and birds to mammals and reptiles.
The new structure, which took more than two years to build and cost 40 million euros, houses rare species like the Komodo dragon, the pygmy hippo or the squirrel monkey.
''The goal of this tropical forest is to tour our visitors a world tour around the equator, to wow them in order to raise further awareness on the conservation of endangered species and tropical forests," Beauval Zoo Director Rodolphe Delord told Reuters on Friday (February 7).
Among the highlights inside the 38-metre-high dome are sea cows, who get their name from their eating habits as they spend between six and eight hours a day grazing on seaweed and leaves that fell from nearby trees.
Scientists estimate that there are less than 10,000 of these large aquatic mammals left in the wild.
"We don't know a lot on this animal," head zookeeper Nicolas Leroux said. "We still learn about them regularly, especially regarding how they communicate."
The dome will open to the public on Saturday (February 8).
The zoo, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, has welcomed more than 17 million visitors since 1980.
(Production: Noemie Olive, Pascale Antonie) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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