Mini-zoo Le Mistral-Sauvage
École Le Mistral

We have all had individuals as classmates who were sometimes… surprising. But when the classmate in question is a corn snake, a bearded dragon or perhaps a dwarf caiman, you have every reason to be amazed. This is exactly the type of fellow member of the Secondary 1 science and technology class at Le Mistral high school in Mont-Joli. In total, 300 specimens of 80 different species make up the Mistral-Sauvage mini-zoo, a project established by teacher Claude Desrosiers with the help of an extensive team of budding naturalists.

It took Claude Desrosiers a great deal of time to set up his mini-zoo project at a school. An enthusiast since childhood of everything that crawls or thrives close to the ground, the teacher with 15 years of experience clearly recalls the day when he suddenly had the brainstorm of converting his classroom into a mini-zoo dedicated to reptiles and fish.

“At the time, I had a class with severe behavioural problems. Spring break was drawing near and I was very worried about my last day with the class. It was then that I came up with the idea of bringing an 80-cm long iguana that was part of my private collection. If the students were well behaved, I would let them see what was in my container at the end of class. As the container kept moving on its own, the students were really intrigued. You should have seen their eyes light up when I got out my iguana. It was then that I realized that I was on to something simply brilliant.”

One thing led to another and Mr. Desrosiers, with the consent of the school principal, began bringing more and more animals, even lodging them permanently in his classroom. And then during the 2006-2007 school year the collection was such that the Mistral Sauvage mini-zoo officially came into being.

In summer 2008, the ultimate token of recognition crowned the efforts made by the teacher and his students. It was at this time that the Mistral Sauvage obtained an official licence from the ministry of wildlife and became the only school in the province with the right to house a zoo. This privilege also grants the Mistral Sauvage the right to acquire specific species and even undertake exchanges with other organizations that have a zoo permit. It was thanks to these rights that the mini-zoo managed to acquire a dwarf caiman, the organization’s star pupil.

“It wasn’t always easy and at one point I even felt like giving up. But when you see all these young people getting involved in the organization, from cleaning the cages to feeding the animals, it’s well worth the effort. Without them, the project would never have attained such scope,” the teacher explains, adding that he can count on the support of fifteen or so students on almost a daily basis as well as all those who lend a hand once in a while during the year.

In addition to the pleasures of having an impressive animal collection close at hand, the zoo provides students with an almost inexhaustible source of educational material. Not forgetting the effect it has on the classroom atmosphere. “Instead of bothering the animals, some students simply observe them. Once in a while I just have to bring them back to the subject matter.”

“I learned a lot about animals last year. As I want to be a veterinarian, I find the project is a good idea,” explains Benoît Bédard, who is now in Secondary 2 and acts as the teacher’s helper and supervises the team during lunch hour, recess and even after school.

“At first, I was prejudiced against snakes but I got to learn more about them and I like them. And we are always here with other students who love animals. It’s really great,” says Alex Marquis-Roussel.

To enable others to share in the educational scope of the mini-zoo, Le Mistral school even sent out invitations to primary schools and local day-care centres to organize group tours. There was a spontaneous response and the few periods reserved for these visits were quickly filled up. The visits were even used as a means of raising funds for the mini-zoo, which is responsible for meeting the daily operating costs.

“This project is a real pedagogical tool and also a way of establishing ties with young people. I believe more than ever that its future is secure for many years to come and I am really pleased,” Claude Desrosiers concludes with enthusiasm.

Mini-zoo Le Mistral-Sauvage
École Le Mistral