Zoodyssée, situated in the forest of Chizé, Deux-Sevres, is one of the largest wild animal parks in Europe dedicated to European species.
The park is split into two areas, le Petit Parc which houses the smaller animals, a farm area (petting zoo) and a number of buildings where you can see various reptiles and behind-the-scenes work going on.
Le Grand Parc has a large European plain where you can find the large grazers: European Bison, various breeds of deer, Polish ponies. In the surrounding woodlands around the Grand Parc, there are wild boar, Poitou mules and donkeys, Pyrenean Chamois to name but a few. La Forêt de Chizé is one of the few remaining areas of ancient forest that once covered much of France and Zoodyssée continues to work hard to preserve this environment and its native flora and fauna.
Le Grand Parc
This is a lovely place to walk around, there are picnic and play areas, lovely woodland spaces with beautiful dappled shade. A great day out for all ages.
Le Petit Parc
Here are some photos of the many animals to be found here:
Racoons – begging for acorns
Being watched by a wolf…
Poitou donkeys with their distinctive shaggy coats
A very handsome lynx
This cute little chap is an Arctic fox
Griffon vultures – the picture doesn’t do their size justice they have a wingspan of around 2.65 metres!
A curious otter
Porcupines
A pair of enormous turkeys in the kids farm area
Zoodyssée is just one of the many places to visit in Poitou-Charentes, whether it’s wildlife, the arts, churches or the beach that you are interested in. You can discover the region for yourself and why not stay in one of our gîtes as your base for exploring a very lovely part of France.
Holiday gites in Poitou-Charentes 
Hello, I like your blog, I am new to it all but this year I will get it fully up and running. I see you have been blogging for some time. I did a page about zoos in Poitou Charentes a while ago including the zoo at Chize. Its very good but I dont like caged birds, seems a waste of time to put a Barn owl in a cage.
Have a look at my blog http://poitoucharentesinphotos.wordpress.com
Can we do reciprocal links?? I have not done any yet but it seems we are coming from similar directions
Any helpfull hints on getting blogging going better would be much appreciated.
Alan W