Refuge de l'Arche (CEPAN)

The Refuge de l’Arche is run by CEPAN (Club d’Étude et de Protection des Animaux et de la Nature), an association created in 1972 that grew out of a group of local boys who rescued a dying cormorant on the Mayenne river in 1968. Its main mission is to rescue and take in exotic wild animals that have been harmed by life in captivity: animals seized by the authorities or abandoned, coming from circuses, laboratories, zoos, private owners and the illegal wildlife trade. Because they are too used to people to be released, they live out their lives at the refuge.

Around a thousand animals of about 120 species, including some 70 species of birds, 45 of mammals and 5 of reptiles, live on a shaded 23-hectare site. Recent arrivals include a meerkat that had been kept illegally by a private owner and a Barbary macaque. The refuge is open to visitors every day from 10am to 6pm (last entry an hour before closing), with keeper talks and activities; entry is €15 for adults and €9 for children aged 4 to 11, and ticket income helps pay for food and veterinary care.

Since 2011 CEPAN has also run the Centre de Sauvegarde de la Faune Sauvage Locale “Valentine & Jacques Perrin” next to the refuge, which treats injured and orphaned local wild birds and mammals from Mayenne, Sarthe and Maine-et-Loire so they can be released; it took in 1,341 animals in 2022 and is closed to the public. The association also runs a work-integration programme for people returning to employment.

You can help by donating online through HelloAsso, becoming a member, visiting or volunteering. CEPAN has been recognised as an association of public interest (reconnue d’utilité publique) since 2014.