History
The menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes is in its essence a zoological garden set up in a botanical garden. The Jardin des Plantes, then the Jardin du Roi, was established in the 17th century as a garden for medicinal herbs by two of King Louis XIII's physicians. His successor, King Louis XIV or the Sun King, had established a menagerie (on request of the members of the Academy of Science of France) in the park of the palace of Versailles in 1662. It was the first menagerie in Baroque style, with its prominent feature the circular layout, in the middle of which stood a beautiful pavilion. In the perimeter of such a pavilion was a walking path surrounded by enclosures and cages. After Louis XIV died, there was a lack of attention paid to the Versailles menagerie by his successors, Louis XV and XVI, in the 1700s. Like the monarchs of that time, they were no admirers of all the ceremony and etiquette favoured by their predecessor. Louis XV particularly disliked the theatricality and symbolism of the public displays. Nevertheless, he maintained the menagerie and numerous animals were held in captivity. Even new arrivals were accommodated, including a two-horned rhinoceros in 1770 and an elephant in 1775.
Although under the reign of Louis XVI the menagerie became populated with domestic species to create an idealised rural setting, it still provoked the citizens of Paris. When at the beginning of the French Revolution, in 1789, the aversion to royalty reached its climax, the menagerie became one of the targets of the revolutionaries as they thought it was offensive to feeding animals large amounts of precious food just to look at them. The crowd freed the animals, except for the exotic ones. The animals could not longer be cared for in Versailles. So, when the local Jacobins planned to substitute the menagerie's useless beasts with a breeding ground that would benefit agriculture, transport and the army, the remaining animals were moved to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris in 1792. Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, steward of the Jardin des Plantes, wished to exhibit the animals as a living part of what was to become the national natural-history museum. At first it was unclear whether the animals could be kept or not, because neither adequate housing, nor human and financial resources were available to accommodate the animals. Nevertheless on 10 June 1793, the Jardin des Plantes including the menagerie as zoological facilities, was officially appointed the national Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle by the 'Convention nationale'. The establishment of the 'Ménagerie' was endorsed on 16 May 1794 by the 'Comité de Salut public', which makes it the second oldest zoo according modern zoological tradition, the oldest being Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna. The establishment intended to serve the entire nation rather than a select few. The involvement of the municipality or local government in the development of the zoo is a trait that has not been copied in most of the other European countries where private or royal menageries were modernised. In other countries zoological gardens were established by societies whose capital was derived from donations and membership contributions.
Despite the creation of a Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle the lack of funds remained, which led to the necessity to keep the animal collection in the not-fit-for-purpose stables, old greenhouse, etcetera. The condition were worse than those of a fairground menagerie. This caused high animal mortality, combined with the lack of food due to national shortages. Therefore, it became necessary to start building the collection from scratch.
Thus, an intensive period of animal acquisition began. Besides the usual methods of acquisition, like purchase, gift and scientific expedition, the military victories of the French army permitted the seizure of animals in menageries of Holland, Switzerland and Italy. Famous was the 23-month-journey to Paris and arrival, 23 March 1798, of an elephant pair from the menagerie of 'Het Loo', seized by French forces from the Stadtholder of Holland, Willem V. Perhaps even more impressive was the arrival of a giraffe at the Jardin in 1827, a gift from Muhammad Ali, the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, to King Charles X of France. This giraffe, the first ever seen in France, after sailing from Egypt walked all the way from Marseille to Paris. As mentioned the stables and cages were dilapidated, therefore it was urgently needed to build new enclosures. In a period of about 40 years after the difficult times of the Revolution, several construction projects were completed. These included the monkey and bird house, the bear pits, the rotunda (La Rotonde) for large herbivores (elephant and giraffe), the building for ferocious animals (the Fauverie), a new monkey house and a vivarium. Many of them still exist to date, with La Rotonde - commissioned by Napoleon himself - being the menagerie's oldest building, designed to replicate the cross of the Napoleonic Legion of Honour, now housing giant tortoises. Driving forces behind this major refurbishment were Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, who ran the menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes from 1802-1841, and Frédéric Cuvier, the zoologist who became warden of the menagerie in 1803.
In those days, science was the main focus of the menagerie, as it was in London Zoo (opened in 1828). And it was Lord Zuckerman, President of the Zoological Society of London, who said that the scientific phase of the ancient zoo tradition began with establishment of the Jardin des Plantes and the London Zoo. Although entertainment was not a priority, the menagerie attracted lots of visitors and the mere presence of the animal collection was presumed to broaden the knowledge of the public.
As it was argued that there's little difference between stuffed animals and those imprisoned in cramped pens, the intentions were to develop enclosures that would allow animals to express their natural behaviour. Unfortunately, this was only partial realised for the herbivores. The excellent cave-riddled rock for the felids for instance, designed by Molinos, was judged to be too expensive, unfortunately. In the end, the ferocious animals were inhabited in a rectangular building of neo-Classical style, with about 20 cages in a row. This was supported by scientists, who thought the architectural form underpinned the status of what they were: a collection, like in natural-history cabinets. The animals were on display, literally, on shelves, rather than in habitats as in zoos, nowadays. The cages were bare and small in size, and withheld the animals of any link whatsoever to their natural environment.
The Jardin's menagerie design was a break with the Baroque tradition. The menagerie was no longer a separate entity surrounded by a garden, but it was distributed over the whole area. By doing so, multiple viewpoints were created, not only for the public but for the animals too. This was the first time that a kind of naturalistic environment was created for animals kept in captivity. The idea was that the garden represented natural landscapes, which made it irregular based on the fragmented naturalistic design. A collage of forms based on human concepts of how a variety of small hills, valleys, lakes, streams, woods and meadows should look like in a confined situation of a garden.
This style was spread throughout Europe in the second half of the eighteenth century, thanks in part to the contemporary prestige of France in Europe. But, while other European menageries profited from the spread of knew knowledge, via for instance photography and increased possibilities to visit other facilities via railways, and adopted innovations, the Jardin des Plantes did not modernise and soon became old-fashioned. As a matter of fact, the London Zoo had a far more significant effect on the development of modern zoo tradition. Despite this, two traits of the Jardin des Plantes remained influential throughout Europe, its landscaped setting and its dedication to the good of the nation, in both its goals and its accessibility to a wider public.
The history of the menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes is a good example of what happened next in the historic evolution of zoological gardens. In 1861, another scientific objective of zoological gardens was introduced: adaptation to a new climate and domestication of exotic species with the aim of identifying new resources to the society at large. So, domesticate the wild animals, and create more robust animals by cross-breeding them with domestic animals, for commercial purpose (e.g. transport, meat and wool). An alternative supply of food would have been welcomed in this period of food shortages. It turned out that the Jardin des Plantes was not suitable for this goal. Therefore, a new specialised centre was set up by the Société d'Acclimatation just outside Paris: Jardin d'Acclimatation in a part of the Bois de Boulogne. Cross-breeding leading to sterility of animals, the need of wildlife preservation that emerged in the first part of the twentieth century, and the better yield of indigenous livestock, finally marked the failure of this scientific ambition.
A major setback was experienced due to the Franco-Prussian war (1870-71). The famine that spread in the city forced the staff to slaughter the edible animals, and the Jardin was bombarded while a temporary hospital had been set up there. To rebuild the animal collection in the aftermath of the war the French received animal consignments from several befriended nations, even from Australia-Melbourne.
The Jardin des Plantes' menagerie has changed little over the years, and many of the old buildings still exists, though crucial renovations have taken place, of course. At the beginning of the 20th century a hibernation enclosure (1905), a small monkey house (1928), a vivarium (1929), another monkey house (1934) and a reptile house (1932) have been built. A half century passed after this improvement without any further innovations except the restoration of the bear pit and some technical corrections. A new enclosure for diurnal birds of prey was built in 1983. A variety of renovations were carried out in the 1980s. At the beginning of the 21st century the pheasants enclosure from 1881 was renovated. However, as all of the structures are listed buildings, it is almost impossible to create new structures here.
(Sources: Le zoo du prince by B.C. Sliggers and A.A. Wertheim (ed.), 1994; The Zoo story by Catherine de Courcy, 1995; Zarafa by Michael Allin, 1998; Zoo and Aquarium history by Vernon N. Kisling Jr. (ed.), 2001; Zoo, A history of zoological gardens in the west by Eric Baratay and Elisabeth Hardouin-Fugier, 2002.)
Visit(s)
26.02.2011
Being situated in the botanical garden of Paris, “jardin des plantes” near the river Seine, you expect to enter a place of peace and quiet in the heart of this vibrant city when arriving at the Zoo. It is green, it is peaceful as only pedestrians are allowed in the garden, but it is absolutely not quiet. Two sides of the Zoo border the busy streets, creating a constant buzz to be heard everywhere in the Zoo.
Though still called menagerie, it is one of the oldest 'modern' zoos of the world, and this shows. In fact, some deterioration of the old-fashioned buildings which are still in use, are part of the charm this typical city-zoo has to offer. It is clear that this zoo has evolved from a show-as-much-species-as-possible zoo to one that tries to deliver the public a feel of the exotic global fauna without stressing the animals too much. Moreover, decisions have been made to focus on some specific taxonomic Classes (mammals and birds) and Orders (hoofed animals), which basically is a good thing if the available ground is limited.
Nevertheless, as a result of the small available territory and the total number of species still on display, the area available for the animals in the enclosures does not meet the modern zoo standards. And keeping a lot of hoofed animals does not alleviate this situation. All in all, most animal specimen do not have adequate space or company at their disposal to express natural behaviour. This is obvious for the birds which are housed two by two in small cages, like the owls, macaws and vultures. Those birds are hold in captivity in old-fashioned rows of aviaries. Same thing holds true for the hoofed animals, which are kept in quite small enclosures and in small numbers. The latter seems contradictory to the natural social behaviour, of most of them, to live in herds. This certainly counts for the yak and the tarkin, which are housed individually.
The change introduced by Hagenbeck, having moats instead of bars to separate the public from the animals on display, has never been properly implemented in the Menagerie. The Zoo is certainly not bar-less, it is all fences wherever you look. So, provided the resources are available, an extremely drastic renovation and change of mind is necessary to turn the Ménagerie into a zoo of the 21st century, like what has been done with Central Park Zoo in New York City.
Furthermore, the way the animals are exhibited is a bit confusing. Sometimes the animals are grouped together based on their habitat (e.g. the markhor, bharal and mountain goat), sometimes the continent where they reside leads the way (e.g. vicuna, nandu and mara), or when appropriate their genetic background (e.g. the primates and the big cats) drives the clustering.
It would not be fair to provide negative observations only. As a matter of fact, apart from these points which need to be addressed to become a more attractive zoo in the eye of those who consider natural behaviour and education should be fostered, the Zoo deserves some credits.
Two asiatic species, the red panda and the binturong, are housed in what looks like to have served as bear pits in the old days. Whatever it formerly was, Zoo management turned it into two excellent enclosures for these species. There is adequate enrichment, with tree-trunks and wooden platforms, hide-outs in cave-like structures in the wall of the pit, and shrubs and bamboo that can serve as food. The enclosure design allows good viewing, close-up, without disturbing the animals too much and without bars interfering the view. As always, the red pandas were resting, which is their natural behaviour. Whereas the binturong family was very active, caused by the playful youngsters, obviously (see video). Both species didn't mind the rain, while I was trying to keep dry my camera and notebook.
W 
hat would be a zoo without primates? They attract lots of visitors by their entertaining behaviour. However, primates require special attention and space, as most of them are living in groups with social hierarchy. Therefore, the choices made in the Paris Ménagerie by focusing especially on two genera of the Old World monkeys from Africa, the genus Cercopithecus and the genus Lophocebus (or Mangabeys), are to be applauded. Unfortunately, the animals are housed in a deteriorating building, which desperately needs to be renovated. Nevertheless, the white-crowned mangabeys (Cercocebus atys lunulatus), the Roloway monkeys (Cercopithecus roloway), the l'Hoest's monkeys (Cercopithecus lhoesti), the black-crested mangabeys (Lophocebus aterrimus), the Agile mangabey (Cercocebus agilis), and the DeBrazza's monkeys (Cercopithecus neglectus), are provided with a lot of climbing materials, though it's all artificial. Let's hope that the amputated tail of one of the Roloway monkeys, and the injured (broken?) left arm of one of the l'Hoest's monkeys, is pure coincidence and has nothing to do with their housing. An anomaly in the house of primates is the Bornean Orangutan. However, the presence of the four specimens of Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus) from the Asian continent is historically accounted for and should be appreciated, as there have been Orangutans in the Ménagerie since 1969. In addition, it seems they are well taken care of, because the oldest inhabitant, Nénette, is a wild catch from 1969 and still thrives in her captive situation.
Another exhibit in which animal clustering is driven by genetic background, is the big cats enclosure. The building where these felines are kept, “la Grande Fauverie”, is being renovated and now holds three species, two snow leopards, two North Chinese leopards (Panthera pardus japonensis) and clouded leopards. According an announcement last year two female clouded leopard cubs were born in the Ménagerie, to the same parents as two other cubs a year before. This is an extraordinary breeding result, because it is very hard to breed these large cats in captivity. Unfortunately, only a male clouded leopard (the father?) was to be seen during the visit. These cats, known for their gorgeous pelts, are threatened by poachers and loss of habitat in Southeast Asia and parts of China. It is hard to estimate how many clouded leopards there are in the wild because they are so reclusive. It is an extremely good climber and some suggest it is a truly arboreal predator.
When finalised the new “fauverie” will hold five rare feline species. The three which are kept now are all taking part in EEPs. The enclosures of all the feline species have an inside and outside compartment, both containing high level observation posts, either on artificial rock face, or on tree-trunks. The outside enclosures do not provide real hide-outs, but the animals could go inside of course to hide from the public. Though the inside compartments are quite bare, outside the felines find themselves surrounded by shrubs providing cover.
As mentioned earlier, the Zoo/Ménagerie, has a focus on hoofed animals. A strange choice for such a small zoo, because it is quite impossible to create real herds of ungulates and dedicate large naturalistic enclosures for them to have at their disposal. Nevertheless, they have an interesting collection of rare species, like the Central Chinese goral (Nemorhaedus caudatus arnouxianus) of which the Ménagerie is the only zoo in France to have them on display, the arkal (Ovis orientalis arkal), the takin (Budorcas taxicolor), the markhor (Capra falconeri) and the bharal or blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur). Furthermore, they have several gaur (Bos gaurus frontalis) of which they manage the EEP. Although not a positive thing to mention, it must be said that the housing of the single southern pudu (Pudu pudu) does not look very professional.
The big walk-through aviary, “Grand voliere”, was a pleasant surprise compared to the line of small aviaries at some parts of the Zoo. The surprise was even bigger considering the date of construction of this large enclosure, that allows free flight for the birds, was 1888.
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The first giraffe
Zarafa
In 1827 a giraffe arrived at the menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, France. It was the first giraffe ever that set foot in France, and a gift from Muhammad Ali Pasha to King Charles X of France. Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha was the self-declared Ottoman viceroy of Egypt ruling from 1805 until 1848, and who is regarded as the founder of modern Egypt.
France's first giraffe was a female Masai giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi) - smallest of the subspecies of giraffe - and one of the first three giraffes to be seen in Europe for over three centuries, since the Medici giraffe was sent to Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence in 1486. The other two giraffes Muhammad Ali Pasha sent to Europe in 1827 were gifts to George IV of the British Empire in London and Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna.
“Giraffe du Sennaar”, in Audouin, Brongniart and Dumas, Annales des sciences naturelles (lit. Annals of Natural Science), vol. 11, 1827, Crochard, Paris, pl. 22. Illustration of the article “Quelques Considérations sur la Girafe” (lit. 'Some Considerations on the Giraffe'), by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, p. 210-223, about the giraffe given to Charles X of France by Muhammad Ali of Egypt.
Image credit: Drawing Meunier (?), Lithography Langlumé. Image is in the public domain.The story of the first giraffe to arrive in France started with Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798. This invasion was intended to lead to a conquest of the Middle East by land and from there ultimately threaten India, the jewel of the British Empire. Napoleon, being very much interested in science himself, took 154 French men of science along with his army to study Egypt's treasures, and established a scientific academy in Cairo, l'Institut d'Égypte. One of the 48 chairmen of this academy was twenty-six-year-old Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, who played a role in the giraffe's travels many years later.
Britain and France had been at war since February 1793, and with Napoleon already back in France since 1799, the French troops in Egypt finally surrendered in 1801 to an invading British and Turkish force with the young Albanian mercenary Muhammad Ali. He became Pasha and viceroy of Egypt in 1805 and modernised Egypt, which began with the use of the printing presses Napoleon brought along while conquering the country. Muhammad Ali admired the French and offered jobs, such as military adviser and officer, to the French fortune-hunters and opportunist, who returned to Egypt after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815. In addition to his French military advisers, the viceroy hired Western educators, scientists and other experts to establish a modern administrative and economic infrastructure. He also sent his son and thousands of other Arabs to be educated in Europe. All this was financed with money from the African slave trade and confiscatory taxation of his subjects.
During the Greek War of Independence (Greece versus Turkey) the Greeks were supported by France. The Sultan of Turkey called upon the Pasha to send troops in support. In addition to this Bernardino Drovetti, French consul-general in Egypt and important adviser to the Pasha, in 1824 developed a plan. To prevent Muhammad Ali Pasha to become unpopular in Europe for supporting the Sultan against the Greeks, Drovetti suggested - even persuaded - the viceroy to present Charles X with an extraordinary gift, a giraffe. This would befriend them and encourage the King of France to stop supporting the Greeks.
Drovetti was an Italian (Piemontese) born French bureaucrat with an adventurous spirit. He was the French consul-general in Egypt from 1806 until 1814 and from 1821 until 1829. Besides being officially a diplomat, Drovetti was an entrepeneur who became rich by robbing ancient Egyptian graves and selling the antiquities, mummies, and whatever else to his wealthy European clients. At the time, the Enlightenment period, many rich European intellectuals established a cabinet de curiosités for their collection of curiosities. And many collections were populated with whatever Drovetti sold. Furthermore, the European aristocracy collected exotic animals in menageries to entertain and impress their guests. These private zoos needed to be populated as well, and the trade in exotic animals was very profitable with Drovetti at the African forefront. So, his suggestion to Muhammad Ali about presenting the French king with a giraffe for his royal menagerie was perhaps not without some self-interest. Drovetti's career in Egypt spanned almost thirty years, and his grave robbing results became the great museum collections now in Turin, Paris and Berlin.
According to the plan, in the autumn of 1824, Muhammad Ali ordered the capture of a giraffe. Next December two young female giraffes of about two months old, one of them in poor health, were captured by Arab hunters in the savannah highlands of Ethiopia, now southeastern Sudan. The hunters knew from experience that only the youngest giraffes could be tamed. All weaned, adolescent and adult giraffes would either fight to the death trying to escape or die of self-imposed starvation. The mothers of the two calves were butchered in the process, and both the calves and their mothers remains were packed on camels to Sennar. From there the calves were shipped down the Blue Nile to be raised in the garrison at Khartoum. From day one the giraffes were hand-fed, first with camel's milk, later with cow's milk, which transferred their attachment from their mothers to their human keepers, and turned them into pets. This probably explains the affection the giraffe in Paris showed to the crowds that came to see her during her travels and life in the Paris menagerie.
At Khartoum the giraffe calves remained for sixteen months to mature and strengthen for the journey to Alexandria. During this period the recently established garrison expanded into a village housing the supervisors of Muhammad Ali's new slave trade. The information as how the giraffes travelled the 3,000 kilometres from Khartoum down the Nile to Cairo and Alexandria is not clear. It is assumed that they sailed on a felucca on the Nile, arriving in Alexandria early summer 1826. It is argued that both caretakers, Drovetti's Arab groom, Hassan and the Sudanese servant Atir, joined the giraffe destined for France not sooner than Cairo.
These giraffes were not the first to be seen that far north in Egypt. In Luxor two other giraffes have been depicted on tombs, one of them on the tomb of Queen Hatshepsut as early as the fifteenth century B.C. She was the first woman to rule Egypt and brought back a giraffe from her expedition to the land of Punt. This giraffe was introduced into her menagerie, what is history's earliest known zoo.
After the arrival in Alexandria the giraffes spent three months on the grounds of the viceroy's palace, where it became obvious that one of the giraffes was much healthier than the other. It was decided that the healthy one was to be shipped to France as a gift to King Charles X, and the sickly one was sent to Britain. Two years after her arrival in London she died in August 1829.
How different it was for the giraffe that went to France. The giraffe's survival was ensured by Drovetti's experience, as an exotic animal trafficker, in shipping African animals to Europe. Hassan, Drovetti's Arab groom, was in charge of the giraffe's journey to Paris assisted by the Sudanese servant, Atir.The endeavour was rather costly, 4,500 francs, a fortune at the time. As she remained unweaned as a young adult, because she was hand-fed cow's milk by humans for such a long period, the giraffe was very docile. This also meant that three milk cows were part of the live cargo that embarked on the vesselthat sailed from Alexandria on September 29, 1826.
A hole had been cut through the deck above the cargo hold through which the giraffe could poke her neck. After a voyage of twenty-five days on the Mediterranean, they arrived off Marseilles on October 23, 1826. Unfortunately, the port of Marseilles maintained strict and effective quarantine measures, due to former plague epidemics that killed over 50% of the city's population. Ships were required to anchor about five kilometres off the mainland. They had to wait for another week, but finally on October 31, 1826, they could disembark and the first giraffe ever set foot in France. Fearing the dangers of transporting her to Paris around the Iberian peninsula and up the Atlantic coast of France to the Seine, it was suggested that she would be shipped by boat up the Rhône. Mainly because travel by land to Paris would be too strenuous and accidents caused by traffic and the curious crowds were expected. There were no trains yet in France.
As bureaucrats in Marseilles and Paris could not decide who was responsible for the expenses involved in the animal's transport, the giraffe was quartered in a specially constructed stable at the house of the prefect of Marseilles. Waiting for the outcome of the bureaucratic discussions the giraffe stayed there for the winter of 1826-1827. During that unusually severe winter for the south of France Hassan and Atir trained the giraffe to follow the milk cows. And when the days warmed, the walks lengthened and the giraffe followed wherever the cows were led.These lengthening walks out into the countryside around Marseilles, besides becoming a public event, eventually convinced the prefect and Hassan that the giraffe could walk to Paris in short day treks. And so it was decided, a land journey was the best solution for getting her to Paris and she would walk herself.
The procession set out on May 20, 1827, led by no one less than the naturalist Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, one of the foremost scientists of his time. In 1793, when the French Revolution had created the National Museum of Natural History, Saint-Hilaire, at twenty-one, had been the youngest of its twelve founding professors. It was Saint-Hilaire who had started the menagerie at le Jardin des Plantes with animals saved from the mobs that had attacked the royal menagerie at Versailles.
After Sain-Hilaire arrived in Marseilles, 55 years old and frail of health with gout and rheumatism, he first studied the appearances and habits of the giraffe as to convince himself that the animal could survive the journey on foot. He ordered a two-part oilskin cloak for her, to keep her warm, and boots for her feet. When leaving Marseilles for Paris the giraffe was already fifteen cm taller than when she arrived in Marseilles. Mayors in villages where the convoy expected to stop for the night were instructed to designate stables with enough headroom, at least four meters. In addition relay squads of mounted police were requested to escort the convoy through their districts. The convoy comprised the giraffe, Hassan, Atir and two additional caretakers, Saint-Hilaire, two Egyptian milk cows, two mouflons and an antelope. The antelope and mouflons travelled by horse carriage in two specially built cages. The parade to Paris was nearly 900 kilometres and took 41 days. The convoy was a spectacle in each town she passed through, such as Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, Orange, Montelimar, Vienne. By the time the convoy reached Lyons, on June 6, the giraffe was so famous that 30,000 people came to see her.
At Lyons Saint-Hilaire suggested and requested to make a detour by having the convoy embark a vessel and travel north on the Saone until Chalon, and from there head for the royal palace at Fontainebleau. There the giraffe could rest and the King could meet and see the animal, his gift. As he never received an answer to his request from the minister of the interior Saint-Hilaire pushed on through Burgundy. Apparently, the decision not to rush out and greet his gift was taken at the royal court as kingly decorum obliged His Highness to wait and receive his gift. Thus, on Saturday, June 30, 1827, at five o'clock the convoy entered Paris. The giraffe was temporarily housed in a greenhouse of le Jardin des Plantes (at that time called le Jardin du Roi, the garden of the King). Finally, on the morning of July 9 she was paraded through the city and presented to the king at the chateau of Saint-Cloud.
This conclusion to the giraffe's travels was only the beginning of the sensation she became in Paris, where glamorous women arranged their hair in towering styles à la Girafe. In the streets and salons men wore fashionably giraffique hats and ties. Honoré de Balzac wrote a story about her, Gustave Flaubert (then a young child) travelled from Rouen to Paris to see her. Over 100,000 people came to see her in July and August that year, approximately an eighth of the population of Paris at the time.
France's first giraffe took up residence in the oldest building of the menagerie of le Jardin des Plantes that still exist, la Rotonde. This building wascommissioned by Napoleon himself and designed to replicate the cross of the Napoleonic Legion of Honour. It is now housing giant tortoises. The giraffe remained in Paris for a further 18 years, joint by a second giraffe for the last six years of her life. All her life in Paris she was attended by Atir, becoming renowned as the Arab who lived with the giraffe in her enclosure at le Jardin des Plantes. Two ladders took him up to a mezzanine, where he slept within scratching reach of her head. Grooming her was his daily public performance. She died on January 12, 1845.
Her corpse was stuffed and displayed in the foyer of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris for many years, before being moved to the museum at La Rochelle on the west coast of France, where she still remains, standing on the landing of a staircase.
A French animated film called Zarafa (released February 2012) was based in the historical event described above.
(Source: Zarafa by Michael Allin, 1998; Wikipedia)
Zoo details
Some additional information, such as contact details and involvement in breeding programmes.
Location
Directions
Directions to Paris Ménagerie, La ménagerie - Le zoo du jardin des plantes
Address:
57 rue Cuvier
75005
Paris
France
public transport
Gare d'Austerlitz would be your destination when you go by public transportation, although some type of transport - the bus - can even bring you more close to the entrance of the botanic garden, Le Jardin des Plantes, where the ménagerie is located .
by train
When you arrive at Gare d'Austerlitz it is just a short walk to the entrance of Le Jardin des Plantes. From Gare de Lyon it is a longer walk and you have to cross the river Seine. Therefore I would recommend to take the from Gare de Lyon to Gare d'Austerlitz.
by bus
Several buses service Le Jardin des Plantes: line 24, 57, 61, 63, 67, 89 and 91.
by métro or RER
When you take the metro you have several options:
Line 5 alight at station Gare d'Austerlitz
Line 7 alight at station Censier Daubenton
Line 10 alight at station Jussieu or Gare d'Austerlitz
In addition train RER C also stops at Gare d'Austerlitz
by boat
When you want to combine your visit to the ménagerie with a sightseeing event then the Batobus would be your mode of transportation, alight at stop 'Jardin des Plantes'.
More information on public transport in Paris, please check out the website of RATP.
by bicycle
Although car drivers in Paris get more and more accustomed to cyclists, it is still a challenge to navigate the streets of Paris by bicycle. Nevertheless it is recommended because a bicycle is a very flexible mode of transportation and it will bring you almost everywhere you want to go, and it is a continuous sightseeing adventure. The Vélib' bicycle rental system makes it very easy to have access to a bike in Paris. It is the world's largest bike-sharing system, run by Paris Town Hall since 2007. Find out more.
by car
It is not recommended to take your car into the city. It is far more better to park your car at the outskirts of town and use public transportation to get into the city.
Zoo map
Download the zoo map here.
