La Vallée des Singes ("The Valley of the Monkeys") is a primate park in Romagne,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

History

La Vallée des Singes was founded by

Wim Mager Wim Mager (26 September 1940 in Rotterdam – 23 March 2008 in Silvolde) was a Dutch photographer who is mainly known for founding the Apenheul Primate Park near Apeldoorn of which he was the director until 1997. When he had found a successor he ...

who had previously founded the

Apenheul Primate Park Apenheul Primate Park is a zoo in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. It specializes in apes and monkeys. It opened in 1971 and was the first zoo in the world where monkeys could walk around freely in the forest and between the visitors. It started with jus ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in 1971, which is the first free-roaming primate park in the world. The park, well known for its three species of great ape, first obtained gorillas in 1998, and first obtained its chimpanzees from the TNO in 2004. La Vallée des Singes is famous for its group of bonobos; with the largest group in captivity as of 2016 numbering at 20 individuals. The zoo has had five successful births for this critically endangered species.

Animals

As of 2016, the park is home to 32 species of primate, including: *

Barbary macaque The Barbary macaque (''Macaca sylvanus''), also known as Barbary ape, is a macaque species native to the Atlas Mountains of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, along with a small introduced population in Gibraltar. It is the type species of the genus ' ...

s * Black howler monkeys * Black lemurs *

Black-and-white ruffed lemur The black-and-white ruffed lemur (''Varecia variegata'') is an endangered species of ruffed lemur, ruffed lemur, one of two which are endemic to the island of Madagascar. Despite having a larger range than the red ruffed lemur, it has a much sma ...

s * Black-capped squirrel monkeys *

Bonobo The bonobo (; ''Pan paniscus''), also historically called the pygmy chimpanzee (less often the dwarf chimpanzee or gracile chimpanzee), is an endangered great ape and one of the two species making up the genus ''Pan (genus), Pan'' (the other bei ...

s *

Brown spider monkey The brown spider monkey or variegated spider monkey (''Ateles hybridus'') is a critically endangered species of spider monkey, a type of New World monkey, from forests in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela. Like all spider monkeys, it ...

s *

Coppery titi The coppery titi monkey (''Plecturocebus cupreus'') or red titi monkey is a species of titi monkey, a type of New World monkey, from South America. They are found in the Amazon Rainforest, Amazon of Brazil and Peru, and perhaps northern Bolivia. ...

s *

Crowned lemur The crowned lemur (''Eulemur coronatus'') is a lemur that is long and weighs . Its tail is about long. Description The crowned lemur is endemic to the dry deciduous forests of the northern tip of Madagascar. It eats a diet of mostly flowers, f ...

s *

Emperor tamarin The emperor tamarin (''Saguinus imperator'') is a species of tamarin monkey allegedly named for its beard's resemblance to the German Empire, German List_of_German_monarchs#German_Empire,_1871–1918, emperor Wilhelm II, German Emperor, Wilhelm I ...

s *

Gelada The gelada (''Theropithecus gelada'', , ), sometimes called the bleeding-heart monkey or the gelada baboon, is a species of Old World monkey found only in the Ethiopian Highlands, living at elevations of above sea level. It is the only living me ...

s *

Golden lion tamarin The golden lion tamarin (''Leontopithecus rosalia''; ), less commonly known as the golden lion marmoset, is a small New World monkey of the family Callitrichidae. Endemic to the Atlantic coastal forests of Brazil, the golden lion tamarin is a ...

s *

Golden-bellied capuchin The golden-bellied capuchin (''Sapajus xanthosternos''), also known as the yellow-breasted or buff-headed capuchin, is a species of New World or neotropical monkey. It lives mainly in trees and are omnivorous, eating a wide variety of both plant ...

s *

Golden-headed lion tamarin The golden-headed lion tamarin (''Leontopithecus chrysomelas''), also the golden-headed tamarin, is a lion tamarin endemic to Brazil. It is found only in the lowland and premontane tropical forest fragments in the state of Bahia, and therefore is ...

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Lesser spot-nosed monkey The lesser spot-nosed monkey (''Cercopithecus petaurista''), also known as the lesser spot-nosed guenon, lesser white-nosed guenon, or lesser white-nosed monkey, is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. It is found in Ivory Coast, G ...

s *

Mandrill The mandrill (''Mandrillus sphinx'') is a large Old World monkey native to west central Africa. It is one of the most colorful mammals in the world, with red and blue skin on its face and posterior. The species is Sexual dimorphism, sexually ...

s *

Mantled guereza The mantled guereza (''Colobus guereza''), also known simply as the guereza, the eastern black-and-white colobus, or the Abyssinian black-and-white colobus, is a black-and-white colobus, a type of Old World monkey. It is native to much of west ...

s *

Pileated gibbon The pileated gibbon (''Hylobates pileatus'') is a primate in the gibbon family, Hylobatidae. The pileated gibbon has sexual dimorphism in fur coloration: males have purely black fur, while females have white-grey colored fur with only the belly ...

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Pygmy marmoset Pygmy marmosets are two species of small New World monkeys in the genus ''Cebuella''. They are native to Amazon rainforest, rainforests of the western Amazon Basin in South America. These primates are notable for being the smallest monkeys in th ...

s *

Red ruffed lemur The red ruffed lemur (''Varecia rubra'') is one of two species in the genus ''Varecia'', the ruffed lemurs; the other is the black-and-white ruffed lemur (''Varecia variegata''). Like all lemurs, it is native to Madagascar. It occurs only in the ...

s * Red-bellied lemurs *

Red-faced spider monkey The red-faced spider monkey (''Ateles paniscus''), also known as the Guiana spider monkey or red-faced black spider monkey, is a species of spider monkey found in the rain forests in northern South America. The species faces issues with hunting ...

s *

Red-handed tamarin The golden-handed tamarin (''Saguinus midas''), also known as the red-handed tamarin or Midas tamarin, is a New World monkey belonging to the family Callitrichidae. Distribution and habitat This species is native to wooded areas north of the Am ...

s *

Ring-tailed lemur The ring-tailed lemur (''Lemur catta'') is a medium- to larger-sized strepsirrhine (wet-nosed) primate and the most internationally recognized lemur species, owing to its long, black-and-white, ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of fiv ...

s *

Roloway monkey The Roloway monkey (''Cercopithecus roloway'') is an endangered species of Old World monkey endemic to tropical West Africa. It was previously considered a subspecies of the Diana monkey (''C. diana''). The species is classified as Critically En ...

s * Silvery marmosets *

Southern white-cheeked gibbon The southern white-cheeked gibbon (''Nomascus siki'') is a species of gibbon native to Vietnam and Laos. It is closely related to the northern white-cheeked gibbon (''Nomascus leucogenys'') and the yellow-cheeked gibbon (''Nomascus gabriellae' ...

s *

Western chimpanzee The western chimpanzee or West African chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes verus'') is a Critically Endangered subspecies of the common chimpanzee. It inhabits western Africa, specifically Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Ghana, Guinea-B ...

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Western lowland gorilla The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in Montane ecosystems#Montane forests, montane, Old-growth forest, primary and sec ...

s * White-belted black-and-white ruffed lemurs * White-faced saki monkeys * White-fronted marmosets *

White-headed capuchin White-faced capuchin, or white headed capuchin, can refer to either of two species of gracile capuchin monkey: * ''Cebus imitator'', the Panamanian white-faced capuchin, also known as the Panamanian white-headed capuchin or Central American w ...

s *

Woolly monkey The woolly monkeys are the genus ''Lagothrix'' of New World monkeys, usually placed in the family Atelidae. Both species in this genus originate from the rainforests of South America. They have prehensile tails and live in relatively large soci ...

Notes

External links

* Zoos in France Buildings and structures in Vienne (department) Tourist attractions in Vienne (department) Organizations based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine {{Zoo-stub