[3] In 1994, the biscuit brand Biscuiterie Saint-Michel teamed up with the safari park to create the village, naming it "Bamboula's Village" after its "Bamboula" chocolate biscuits,[1][2] which had a black mascot with the same name (a racial slur, dating from colonial times).
[3] Twenty-five Ivorians, including children, were hired for six months to build and inhabit the village.
Performers' passports were confiscated; most lived confined to their huts[2] (the park gate being closed in the evenings), which provided less space than required by labour law.
[2] Anti-racist organisations and unions formed the group "Non à la réserve humaine" ["No to the Human Zoo"] and began legal action against the park.
[2] By the time that the court had sent an expert to document human-rights violations, the performers had been ordered out of the country.