An animal park in the Tarn was closed until mid-January after the flight of nine wolves, we learned on Friday, December 24 from the prefecture. The incident occurred at the Trois Vallées zoo, in Montredon-Labessonnié, about 35 km from Albi. “There were not many people in the zoo and at no time was the public in immediate danger”, according to Fabien Collet, the secretary general of the prefecture.
“The owner had to kill four wolves and called on state services to anesthetize the other five”, he added, adding that this “security problem” however justified the closure of the zoo, effective since Thursday and “until security conditions return to normal”.
Asked by AFP, the owner of the park, Sauveur Ferrara, clarified that the wolves, “who had just arrived”, escaped from their enclosure, “after destroying the safety hatches”, and entered adjacent parks, but did not leave the zoo grounds.
The Trois Vallées zoo is home to some 600 animals of 70 species over 60 hectares, including big cats. It had already been hit with an administrative closure measure, by ministerial order, in October 2020, due to “major breaches” endangering the safety of animals, staff and visitors.
But the prefectural decree was suspended the following month by the Toulouse administrative court, “because of the serious and manifestly illegal interference with the right to property, the freedom to conduct business and the freedom of trade and industry”, for lack of prior formal notice.