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Château of Thoiry

Château of Thoiry
Château de Thoiry Yvelines côté jardins01.jpg
The castle
Date opened 1965
Location Thoiry, France
Coordinates 48°51′50″N 1°47′45″E / 48.86389°N 1.79583°E / 48.86389; 1.79583Coordinates: 48°51′50″N 1°47′45″E / 48.86389°N 1.79583°E / 48.86389; 1.79583
Land area 150 ha (370 acres)
No. of animals 1,000
No. of species 130
Website www.thoiry.net/index.2.php?lang=en

The Château of Thoiry is a 150-hectare (370-acre) castle, zoo and botanical garden that was opened to the public in 1965 in the village of Thoiry, France, with gardens and a zoological park. Located about 30 miles (48 km) due west of Paris, it is best visited by automobile to take advantage of the drive-through lane. Its popularity has continued to grow—by 1974, over 280,000 visitors per year were coming to see an assortment of 1,000 wild animals.

Many of the animals roam freely along an 8-kilometre (5.0 mi) road through the 240-acre (97 ha) "African Reserve". Others can be viewed in a walk-through zoo. Animals in the reserve include Przewalski's horse, bears, European and American bison, wildebeest, greater and lesser kudu, dromedary camels, zebras, giraffes, rhinos, hippos, eland, Watusi cattle, and three elephants.

Animals in the walk-through portion of the zoo include Siberian tigers, Eurasian lynx, snow leopards, lar gibbons, red pandas, ring-tailed lemurs, a colony of about 60 Tonkean macaques, cheetahs, reticulated python, wolves, pygmy goats, and Komodo dragons.


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