Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

Planète Sauvage, originally named Safari Africain, is a zoological park founded in 1992 in Port-Saint-Père (Loire-Atlantique) by Monique and Dany Laurent, already owners of the zoo de La Boissière-du-Doré. The park opens with 500 animals on 140 hectares, but raises controversy in 1994 with the Village of Bamboula, a controversial reconstitution of an Ivorian village as a human zoo. This project, sponsored by the brand Bamboula (Saint-Michel group), is closed after 6 months under pressure from the collective No to the human reserve. The park was sentenced in 1997 for non-compliance with labour law.

In 1998, the park was renamed Planète Sauvage and attempted to open a delphinarium, but the Ministry of the Environment refused to import dolphins, finding the project not in conformity with the cetaceans Act 1995. The basins then host sea lions until 2007. Between 2005 and 2015, the park was managed by the Compagnie des Alpes (a subsidiary of the Caisse des dépôts), which developed unusual accommodation (Bivouac au safari, yurtes Mongoliales) and finally obtained permission to host dolphins in 2008. The Cité Marine, inaugurated in 2009, became one of two delphinariums in metropolitan France, despite legal remedies and controversy over the captivity of cetaceans.

Since 2015, Planète Sauvage has been owned by the Looping Group, controlled by Abu Dhabi Mubadala sovereign fund. The park covers 85 hectares and houses 1,100 animals of 120 species, divided into thematic areas (Africa, Asia, America) and a 10 km safari track. He collaborates with researchers (CNRS, University of Rennes-I) for studies in ethology, particularly on dolphins, while supporting conservation associations such as Yaqu Pacha or SOS Dolfijn. Despite recurrent polemics (sale of macaques to a German laboratory in 2014, early dolphin mortality), the park has attracted between 216 000 and 292 000 visitors annually since 2010.

The park is distinguished by its tourism innovations, such as the Inca Trail (2016) or family lodges (2019), and its educational commitments, with school workshops and day care programs. However, its history remains marked by scandals, such as the death of three euthanized lions in 2013 for overpopulation, or the flight of two Saimiris monkeys in 2018. In 2020, its turnover reached nearly €7 million, with 78 employees.

The Safari Trail, the heart of the park, allows to observe 15 enclosures representing five continents, while the pedestrian area offers thematic spaces such as the Jungle Temple (macaques, otters) or the Kirikou Village (inspired by Michel Ocelot's cartoon). The Marine City is home to ten dolphins born in captivity, four of whom were born between 2015 and 2020, although their management has been criticized by One Voice and C'est Suffice.

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