A demonstration for the closure of the Lyon zoo this Saturday

the City wants to make its zoo a refuge for endangered species. (Credit William Pham)

The PAZ association, which has been campaigning for several months for the closure of the Lyon zoo at the Tête d'Or park, is organizing a rally in front of the park gates, carrying children from the Rhône, this Saturday, November 30. Signs and a banner will be deployed to once again demand the closure of this zoo. Speeches and distribution of leaflets are also planned.

This mobilization comes a month after the sending of a collective letter from the PAZ association and 15 other animal protection associations to the mayor of Lyon, Grégory Doucet, and his deputy Gautier Chapuis. These groups asked him to initiate an action plan for the placement of animals in shelters and the closure of the zoo. As a reminder, the town hall for its part adopted a deliberation in March 2024 proposing 60 measures on the animal condition, including four concerning the zoo. Above all, the City wishes to make the zoo a welcoming place for species in danger of extinction.

“In this period of historic budgetary crisis, Lyon City Hall must stop wasting public money every year on animal captivity. This money could be used for real municipal skills: public services and, as the Mayor wishes, for social sector associations.“, explain the representatives of the PAZ association. It had also seized last July the administrative court of Lyon to find out the cost, which would amount to 1.7 million euros per year in salary costs for the maintenance of the zoo, according to data provided by the municipality.

Read also: Lyon: an association calls on Grégory Doucet before the “animal festival” on October 20