🐾 A zoo like no other
With its 436 hectares of forest, meadows and ponds, Haute-Touche is France’s largest wildlife park. More than 1,500 animals from five continents live there, each in an environment designed for their well-being.
Here you’ll encounter iconic species: Sumatran tigers, cheetahs, wolves, baboons, antelopes, and unique collections of deer. The enclosures are vast, shaded by ancient oak trees, and the vegetation serves as a natural backdrop: a symphony of green and light, where one can sometimes sense the rustle of a tail or the powerful breath of an animal in motion.
🚗 A visit to savour
The reserve can be explored in various ways, each offering a unique experience:
- Car safari: winding through pastures and woods, where deer, fallow deer and wild boar roam freely.
- Walking or cycling: to get up close to the exotic enclosures, breathe in the scents of the undergrowth and listen to the birdsong.
- Electric buggies or horse-drawn carriages: an original and comfortable way to explore this vast estate.
Throughout the route, educational panels recount the history and behaviour of the animals, enriching the visit with living knowledge, at the crossroads of pleasure and curiosity.
📅 Events and experiences
All year round, the reserve offers events that enhance the experience:
- Themed weekends, such as those dedicated to nature, conservation or iconic species.
- Easter egg hunts and fun activities for children, turning the visit into a family adventure.
- “Apprentice keeper” workshops: a unique half-day session to share in the daily life of the animal care teams, prepare meals, observe or feed some of the residents, and learn about the conservation programmes carried out on site.
This special connection with the wildlife and the educational teams gives a deeply human dimension to what might otherwise be just a simple zoo.
🏕️ Where to stay near the reserve
Around the Zoological Reserve, the experience can be extended into the great outdoors, whether in a tent, a campervan or by the banks of a tranquil lake. Here are a few good options for where to stay:
🚐 Azay-le-Ferron motorhome site
A simple but charming spot at the entrance to the village, shaded, green and free, with waste disposal facilities and a water tap, ideal for a night or two near the reserve and Azay-le-Ferron Castle.
🏕️ Campsite near Azay-le-Ferron
A few kilometres from the nature reserve, campsites offer spacious pitches in the heart of the Brenne, a natural region famous for its ponds and biodiversity.
Wake up to the sound of birdsong, feel the damp grass beneath your feet, savour the calm and the soft morning light… staying near the nature reserve becomes a complete sensory experience.
🌳 Around the reserve: heritage and landscapes
Between visits, strolling through the Château d’Azay-le-Ferron, exploring the neighbouring villages or wandering around the ponds of the Brenne Regional Nature Park – nicknamed “the land of a thousand ponds” – extends this immersion. Every path, every clearing seems to tell a story, a legend of nature and animals, an enchanted interlude far from city life.
🐅 An outing to enjoy with family or friends
With its picnic areas, brasserie and shaded spots, the reserve offers a full day of thrills: the hypnotic gaze of a Sumatran tiger, the cries of lemurs, the majestic silence of a clearing filled with deer… Everything comes together to make this visit a rare experience, at once educational, contemplative and poetic.
Contact details:
HAUTE-TOUCHE ZOOLOGICAL RESERVE
D975, 36290 Azay-le-Ferron
Tel: 02 54 02 20 40
Website: zoodelahautetouche.fr