An eHoftrac for the French Beauval Zoo
The Beauval Zoo in the French location Saint Aignan sur Cher recently bought a compact, battery-operated 1160 eHoftrac from Weidemann.
The zoo management decided for an electric Hoftrac because it does not produce exhaust fumes or noise during operation. This is advantageous for the animals and zoo visitors, many of which are children. The zoo already uses several electric golf cars to drive into the 40 ha large animal park and do transports. The zoo management was therefore aware of the many benefits of a fully electric, battery-operated vehicle. “The animal caretakers from the elephant house use this small loader inside and outside the building without restrictions. The high flexibility of the machine allows incredibly variable employment,” the management at the zoo explains. Thus, transportation of hay or cleaning of sandy laying and sleeping areas of the elephant house are part of the daily tasks. Beside the variety of possible work tasks, the animal caretakers are especially pleased with the impressive performance of the battery-operated machine. The elephant feed is easily transported.
Furthermore, the elements of the sleeping areas are newly arranged regularly and according to the respective season. The 1160 eHoftrac has a standard width of 1.04 m. The Beauval Zoo, however, decided for wider tyres, thus totalling a width of 1.28 m. No problem for use in animal enclosures, because even at this width it easily fits through all doors to work both indoors and outdoors. “Thanks to the very small outer radius the machine is also very easy to manoeuvre in confined rooms”, the management and the zoo personnel glee.
To exploit the many possibilities of the new machine, the zoo decided for a choice of different attachments. Thus it is fitted with a bucket, a pallet fork, an auger, a rotary sweeper, a ground leveller and a snowplough. With this the zoo is equipped for all accruing works throughout the year.
The Beauval Zoo is renown in France since a long time for its large variety of species with close to 10,000 animals, four of which are endangered species in the wild. When a panda baby was born in August 2017 the zoo gained worldwide recognition. It received its official name from Brigitte Macron, the wife of the French President Emmanuel Macron, and the Chinese authority beginning of December 2017.
Yuan Meng is now big and healthy enough to face the public. Since mid of January 2018 he can be marvelled at in the Panda Gallery.
