By Rosemary Low
At this time of year, many people are making decisions about holiday destinations, or long weekend breaks in Europe, perhaps during Easter. These trips can often be combined with a zoo, which has a good parrot collection or an exciting bird collection with unusual species. There are several that are just a short flight away from UK airports, including budget airlines. They are well worth exploring!
France’s newest zoo is Parrot World which opened in 2020. It was in the mid-2000s that Éric Vignot, President and Founder, became interested in parrots. He had volunteered at a parrot shelter and also became aware of the threatened status of many species due to habitat destruction and poaching. After 35 years as a business owner, Eric Vignot sold his company in 2015. He set up the Parrot Wildlife Foundation, which strongly supports parrot conservation. In France, it also works to improve the living conditions of parrots with awareness days for owners.
I met Eric Vignot briefly at Loro Parque in 2018, when his zoo was under construction. He wanted to present parrots in near-natural habitats, such as those of Amazonia and Patagonia, alongside other animals from these areas. In the 10,000m² Amazonia Trek area, about 400 South American parrots, such as macaws, Amazons and conures, can be seen along with lapwings, herons, Sun Bitterns, ibis, flamingos and spoonbills.