Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

Montpellier's zoological park, created in 1964 within Lunaret Park, extends over 80 hectares north of the city. It is a municipal property and is entirely funded by the city, and now houses 170 animals of 29 species, including endangered species under European programmes (EEP). Its free of charge makes it one of the most frequented zoos in France, with about 300,000 visitors per year. It is one of the five largest zoos in the country and has been run since 2023 by Marine Baconnais.

The Valette estate, on which the park extends, has a complex history dating back to the 12th century. Successively owned by Protestant families (such as the Tremolet, doctors of François I), judges, king's advisers, then industrialists like François Farrel, he was finally bequeathed to the city of Montpellier in 1919 by Henri de Lunaret. This legacy imposes a charitable vocation: an orphanage or a charity. In 1939, part of the estate was transferred to the École d'Agriculture, while the forested area became the zoological park in 1964, initiated by the assistant town planning officer François Doumenge.

The park is committed to ex situ conservation through European programmes (EEP) and has undergone modernisations, such as the Amazon greenhouse (2007-2021) or cheetah infrastructure (2014-2016). A €30 million renovation plan, planned between 2016 and 2021, has finally been abandoned. In 2025, a controversy broke out after the euthanasia of 200 bats, linked to the closure of the greenhouse and spatial constraints. The park also includes an educational farm (1982) and a 20 hectare nature reserve along the Lez.

The park was visited by 579,084 visitors in 2014, with 141,776 additional entries for the Amazon greenhouse that year. The zoo remains a major player in raising awareness of biodiversity in Occitanie, despite recent challenges such as the management of spaces and species hosted.

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