Wild Souls, a non-profit-making association under the French law of 1901, recognised as being in the public interest, has set up a sanctuary in the Tarn region of France for exotic wild animals that have been seized or rescued.
One way of acting to respect life and living beings is to offer protection and well-being to animals seized by customs, from private individuals, from establishments that put on shows, from the closure of zoos or from animal experimentation laboratories.
Aware that it is impossible to take in all the animals in need of protection (more than 22,000 in Europe in 2017 alone), the sanctuary, by also developing initiatives to raise public awareness of nature, biology and biodiversity, is helping to raise awareness of the importance of animals in our society and of nature in general.
In this way, the story told by the animals present is a channel for passing on this knowledge and raising awareness of the need to protect nature and animals, so that we understand that, ultimately, this means protecting future human generations from the many consequences of the decline in biodiversity.
In order to grow and carry out its missions as effectively as possible, Wild Souls is inviting and involving the general public, professionals and interested companies in its work. Those involved in animal protection believe that the public, the state and the business world must work together to provide the resources required for the missions that impact the sanctuary and for which we all have a share of responsibility.
The sanctuary is designed primarily to provide a permanent home for animals whose history no longer allows them the autonomy of wild animals in their natural environment. The sanctuary is a place where they can live and end their lives in peace. They are offered optimal conditions of well-being in terms of nutrition, comfort, living space, care and enrichment.
For some of them, reintroduction programmes into their natural environment may be envisaged with the help of experts in the field, in France and abroad