| Date opened | Summer 1983 |
|---|---|
| Location | Carrigtwohill, Cork, Ireland |
| Land area | 75 acres (300,000 m2) |
| Number of species | 80 |
| Website | http://www.fotawildlife.ie |
Fota Wildlife Park was opened in 1983. Located in the south of Ireland, in County Cork, the park is set on 75 acres (300,000 m2), and is home to nearly 30 mammal and 50 bird species. Many of the animals roam freely with the visitors, such as the ring-tailed lemurs and squirrel monkeys. The larger animals, including the giraffe and bison, live in spacious paddocks with unobtrusive barriers. This allows visitors to enjoy an up close and personal experience with the animals.
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Fota Wildlife Park aims to be a leading contributor to the conservation of wildlife through conservation education, the breeding of endangered species and the promotion of conservation worldwide.
Fota Island was the former home of the Smith-Barry family, descendants of Normans who came to Ireland in 1185.[1] In those days the family’s lands were very extensive but they dwindled over the years until they were restricted to Fota Island. The estate was sold to University College Cork in 1975.
In the meantime, Dublin Zoo had reached maximum development with the space available. So in 1979, the Director of Dublin Zoo proposed to the Zoological Society of Ireland Council that a wildlife park should be established. It was thought that it should be quite different in concept from a conventional zoo or safari park. It was then that Fota Island was proposed.
That same year it was formally agreed that the Society would establish a wildlife park on 70 acres (280,000 m2) at Fota. University College Cork kindly offered the land free of charge under license agreement. Fota Wildlife Park became a joint project of the Zoological Society of Ireland and University College Cork. Fundraising committees were set up in both Dublin and Cork. All the funds for the development were raised from public subscriptions, apart from a grant from Bord Fáilte for the perimeter fence.
The first animals started to arrive to Fota Wildlife Park in late 1982, and Fota Wildlife Park was opened in the summer of 1983 by the then President of Ireland, Dr. Patrick Hillery.
Fota Wildlife Park Ltd. is a registered charity, and a non-profit organisation limited by guarantee. Any financial surpluses that the Park generates are reinvested in order to promote the company’s objectives of conservation, education and research.
The animals at Fota Wildlife Park are kept there because, in addition to their threatened status, they are ambassadors of their native habitats, which are being degraded through human activity.
Below is the list of these habitats and their associated animals at Fota Wildlife Park:
Hot Deserts
Temperate Grasslands and Deserts
- Guanaco
- Mara
Tropical Savanna
- Emu
- Ostrich
- Cheetah
Tropical Forests
- Macaws
- Black and White Ruffed Lemurs
- Colombian Black Spider Monkey
Temperate Forests
- Bennett’s Wallaby
Wetlands
- Capybara
- Lechwe
Oceans
Fota Wildlife Park is home to Ireland’s first and only Cheetah Run. Running since 2006, this device ensures the cheetahs work for their food by suspending it on a wire that travels 10 feet (3.0 m) off the ground, at approximately 65 km/h.
Cheetahs by their very nature, will not work for their food if they do not have to. So in an effort to exercise them, and as part of their behavioral enrichment program, the device was installed.
This entertaining twist on feeding can be viewed at the park every evening.
Fota Wildlife Park is home to an award winning education centre. The education programme taught there aims to support nature conservation by providing information, courses and activities, especially to young people.
Courses cover a broad range of topics including ecology and conservation and are aimed at students at both primary school and secondary school level. In addition to this, the education centre provides summer camps that run through the school holidays. Every year, almost 13,000 students pass through Fota’s education centre.
Recently, the education centre at Fota Wildlife Park received the Sandford Award for Heritage Education in recognition of the work done there.[2] This prestigious accolade is awarded to centres of education that meet high standards of quality and excellence with their educational services and facilities.
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