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Souss-Massa Park:

see gazelles, antelopes and ostriches up close

Good plan 

  restaurant

 

Last colony of the bald ibis in the world, but also intended to reconstitute the great fauna of the Sahara, the Souss-Massa National Park is one of the most interesting animal reserves in North Africa,40 minutes from our riad. Private operators offer a visit to the Saharan fauna repopulation park, from the oryx to the dorcas gazelle. A real and original discovery! To be carried out exclusively through these operators. Private visits are not allowed, so that the park maintains its calm and cleanliness.

The Massa reserve is part of the Souss-Massa National Park, which covers 33,000 hectares and 75 kilometers of coastline. Download the park map below. The Moroccan Kingdom breeds gazelles, antelopes and endangered ostriches there.

 

The goal? Repopulate the immense Saharan expanses of which it is the thousand-year-old habitat. A donation of animals has already been made for the benefit of Tunisia and other gestures of this type are envisaged.

 

In November 2015, 20 oryx from the La Massa reservewere moved to the M'cissi acclimatization station,in the Province of Tinerhir, with a view to preparing for the reintroduction of this animal into the wild,Errachidia and toBoujdour. 

 

Some claim that these gazelles and antelopes also lived in the region of Agadir. But this fact has not been established with certainty. Download the brochure "From the oryx to the dorcas gazelle" below.



Discovery tour and information pavilion operational

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Created for visitors, a discovery circuit of the Animal Park of Souss-Massa has been designed to follow two fenced reserves and contemplate the animals up close.The start of the circuit is in Rockein, some 40 minutes from the Jardin aux Etoiles. A brand new information pavilion has been built there by the Moroccan authorities. Large panels explain the characteristics of the animals raised in the reserve. Funded by the Aquitaine Region, maps and information are available to visitors. They can be downloaded below.

 

This first reserve brings together the impressive long-horned addax antelope, the dama mhor gazelle, the dorcas gazelle and the red-necked ostrich. The second reserve, that of Arouais, further south, extends over a landscape of dunes. It is the refuge of the oryx antelope and other dorcas gazelles. 

 

"Nature safaris" to be booked with an approved operator

 

This very commendable information effort was not followed up with effects for a long time. It is now different. The visitor who goes to Rockein on an individual basis will have to turn back. On the other hand, those who have booked a day or half a day with one of the approved operators will have the joy of admiring these magnificent animals up close.

 

However, groups must respect specific rules imposed by the Park Management: timetable, quietness of the animals, cleanliness, as well as the places provided for rest stops.

 

To book, contact the following approved operators, all based in Agadir:

 

Exclusive Travel Services Morocco, contact@exclusive-morocco.com, +212 528 84 84 46  

Sahara Tours International, reservation@sti.ma, +212 528 84 04 21  

Decameron Explorer,  contact@decameronexplorermaroc.com, +212 528 84 15 15    

Time Travel,  contact@timetravelmorocco.com, +212 528 82 71 71                      

Maghrib Voyages, maghrib.voyages@hotmail.fr, +212 528 84 53 54                     

 

Other services are offered in addition to the animal park visit packages. Sahara Tours, for example, has developed a mini-safari that takes participants to the Youssef Ibn Tachfin dam and Tiznit.

Anchor 2
 
​
AT40 minutes 
from the Garden to the Stars.
Only visits made
with tourist operators are
allowed.
 
 

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The world's last colony of bald ibises

 

The northern bald ibis is an endangered bird. There are only a few hundred specimens left on the planet and the last colony in the world - some 300 individuals - is at the mouth of the Massa wadi on the Atlantic, whose brackish water is held back by a natural sand dyke.

 

These rare birds have lately moved to70 kilometers north of Agadir, in Tamri, near Cape Ghir, as well as south of the Massa wadi, in Aglou, where according to some information they are more easily seen than on the outskirts of the Massa. These quite magical observation sites attract scientists from all over the world.



Flamingos, herons, cormorants, ducks and coots



It is easy to find local guides to accompany you in the discovery of the fauna of the Massa wadi. With or without them, equipped with your binoculars, you can discover pink flamingos in elegant groups, herons, cormorants, ducks and coots. With a little luck, you will distinguish these famous bald ibises between the acacias and the tamarisks, or quite simply by the sea.

 

We regularly see wild boars walking along the edge of the wadi. Impure in the eyes of Islam, they are not wanted, so they multiply. Wild boar hunts are however organised.

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