Zoo de Guyane

The Zoo de Guyane at Macouria keeps only the fauna of the Guianas, set in actual forest so the enclosures sit under canopy: jaguars and pumas, tapirs, giant anteaters, spider monkeys, harpy eagles, caimans and a walk-through aviary, linked by shaded paths and a canopy walkway. For most visitors it is the only realistic way to see the animals the forest itself almost never shows. The site covers several hectares of real forest, which is why sloths and agoutis wander through it wild on their own account.

History

In 1983 Rudolf Watshinger founded Fauna Flora Amazonica, a hummingbird breeding centre, which became a wildlife park called the Réserve Animalière Macourienne in 1985 and was bought by the communes of Macouria and Montsinéry in 2002. It closed in 2007 because of its age and safety standards, and Franck and Angélique Chaulet, who had already restored the Zoo de Guadeloupe and the Jardin de Balata, bought it and reopened it in 2008 as the Zoo de Guyane, renovated to the standards of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria. By 2013 it was the second most visited attraction in French Guiana after the Salvation Islands, and in 2014 it opened an aviary named after the naturalist Eugène Bellony, who in the 1930s had opened the territory's first animal park; its first residents were 40 rainbow lorikeets (Wikipedia, French Guiana Zoo).

What's there

• The jaguars - the cats the forest holds but never shows.
• The harpy eagles - the canopy's top predator at eye level.
• The canopy walkway - the rope bridges through the treetops.
• The regional collection - only Guianan species, under real forest.

When to go

July to November is the dry season and the paths are at their best. Mornings are cooler and the animals more active. Wet-season afternoons bring heavy storms.

Things to know

It is a zoo, and anyone wanting wild sightings should temper expectations of the forest instead. Some enclosures are dated. The canopy walkway closes in bad weather.

Nearby

Macouria is around it, and Cayenne is southeast.

Key facts