Fota Wildlife Park
Encyclopedia
Fota Wildlife Park was opened in 1983. Located in the south of Ireland, in County Cork
, the park is set on 75 acres (303,514.5 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.
was the former home of the Smith-Barry family, descendants of Normans who came to Ireland in 1185. 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 (283,280.2 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.
Below is the list of these habitats and their associated animals at Fota Wildlife Park:
Hot Deserts
- Scimitar-horned Oryx
Temperate Grasslands and Deserts
- Guanaco
- Mara
Tropical Savanna
- Indian Peafowl
- Emu
- Ostrich
- Helmeted Guineafowl
- Rothschild Giraffe
- Grant’s Zebra
- Cheetah
Tropical Forests
- Macaws
- Brazilian Tapir
- Ring-tailed Lemur
s
- Black and White Ruffed Lemurs
- Red Ruffed Lemurs
- Colombian Black Spider Monkey
- White Faced Saki
- Squirrel Monkey
- Lion-tailed Macaques
- Black and White Colobus
- Siamang Gibbon
- White-handed Gibbon
- Agile Gibbon
Temperate Forests
- Bennett’s Wallaby
- Eastern Grey Kangaroo
- European Bison
- Red Panda
Wetlands
- Capybara
- Chilean Flamingo
- Lechwe
- Great White Pelican
- White-tailed Sea Eagle
Oceans
- Humboldt Penguin
- Common Seal
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.
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. This prestigious accolade is awarded to centres of education that meet high standards of quality and excellence with their educational services and facilities.
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
, the park is set on 75 acres (303,514.5 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.
Mission statement
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.History
Fota IslandFota Island
Fota Island is a small island in Cork Harbour, Ireland, just north of the larger island of Great Island. The name "Fota" is derived from the Irish "Fód te" meaning warm soil...
was the former home of the Smith-Barry family, descendants of Normans who came to Ireland in 1185. 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
Dublin Zoo
Dublin Zoo , in Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland is the largest zoo in Ireland and one of Dublin's most popular attractions. Opened in 1831, the zoo describes its role as conservation, study, and education...
had reached maximum development with the space available. So in 1979, the Director of Dublin Zoo proposed to the Zoological Society of Ireland
Zoological Society of Ireland
The Zoological Society of Ireland is the body responsible for running Dublin Zoo, where it is based, and Fota Wildlife Park in County Cork...
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 (283,280.2 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
Patrick Hillery
Patrick John "Paddy" Hillery was an Irish politician and the sixth President of Ireland from 1976 until 1990. First elected at the 1951 general election as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for Clare, he remained in Dáil Éireann until 1973...
.
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.
List Of animals
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
- Scimitar-horned Oryx
Temperate Grasslands and Deserts
- Guanaco
- Mara
Mara
-Social groups:*Mara people, in northeastern India and western Myanmar* Mara language, a language spoken by Mara people*Mara Salvatrucha, a violent criminal gang in Mexico, Central America, Canada, and the United States...
Tropical Savanna
- Indian Peafowl
Indian Peafowl
The Indian Peafowl or Blue Peafowl is a large and brightly coloured bird of the pheasant family native to South Asia, but introduced and semi-feral in many other parts of the world...
- Emu
Emu
The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. There are three subspecies of Emus in Australia...
- Ostrich
Ostrich
The Ostrich is one or two species of large flightless birds native to Africa, the only living member of the genus Struthio. Some analyses indicate that the Somali Ostrich may be better considered a full species apart from the Common Ostrich, but most taxonomists consider it to be a...
- Helmeted Guineafowl
Helmeted Guineafowl
The Helmeted Guineafowl is the best known of the guineafowl bird family, Numididae, and the only member of the genus Numida...
- Rothschild Giraffe
Rothschild giraffe
The Rothschild Giraffe is among the most endangered giraffe subspecies with only a few hundred members in the wild. It is named after the famous family of the Tring Museum's founder, Lord Walter Rothschild, and is also known as the Baringo Giraffe, after the Lake Baringo area of Kenya, or as the...
- Grant’s Zebra
Grant's Zebra
The Grant's Zebra is the smallest of six subspecies of the Plains Zebra.-Distribution:The distribution of this subspecies is in Zambia west of the Luangwa river and west to Kariba, Shaba Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, north to the Kibanzao Plateau. In Tanzania north from...
- Cheetah
Cheetah
The cheetah is a large-sized feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The cheetah is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx, most notable for modifications in the species' paws...
Tropical Forests
- Macaws
- Brazilian Tapir
Brazilian Tapir
The South American Tapir , or Brazilian Tapir or Lowland Tapir or Anta, is one of four species in the tapir family, along with the Mountain Tapir, the Malayan Tapir, and Baird's Tapir...
- Ring-tailed Lemur
Ring-tailed Lemur
The ring-tailed lemur is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families. It is the only member of the Lemur genus. Like all lemurs it is endemic to the island of Madagascar...
s
- Black and White Ruffed Lemurs
Black-and-white ruffed lemur
The black-and-white ruffed lemur is the more endangered of the two species of ruffed lemurs, both of which are endemic to the island of Madagascar. Despite having a larger range than the red ruffed lemur, it has a much smaller population that is spread out, living in lower population densities...
- Red Ruffed Lemurs
- Colombian Black Spider Monkey
- White Faced Saki
White-faced Saki
The white-faced saki , also known as the Guianan saki and the golden-faced saki, is a species of saki monkey, a type of New World monkey, found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, and Timbuktu...
- Squirrel Monkey
Squirrel monkey
The squirrel monkeys are the New World monkeys of the genus Saimiri. They are the only genus in the subfamily Saimirinae.Squirrel monkeys live in the tropical forests of Central and South America in the canopy layer. Most species have parapatric or allopatric ranges in the Amazon, while S...
- Lion-tailed Macaques
- Black and White Colobus
Black-and-white colobus
Black-and-white colobuses are Old World monkeys of the genus Colobus, native to Africa. They are closely related to the brown colobus monkeys of genus Piliocolobus. The word "colobus" comes from Greek κολοβός kolobós , and is so named because its thumb is a stump.Colobuses are herbivorous, eating...
- Siamang Gibbon
- White-handed Gibbon
- Agile Gibbon
Agile Gibbon
The agile gibbon , also known as the black-handed gibbon, is an Old World primate in the Hylobatidae or gibbon family, a group also collectively referred to as the "lesser apes"...
Temperate Forests
- Bennett’s Wallaby
Wallaby
A wallaby is any of about thirty species of macropod . It is an informal designation generally used for any macropod that is smaller than a kangaroo or wallaroo that has not been given some other name.-Overview:...
- Eastern Grey Kangaroo
Eastern Grey Kangaroo
The Eastern Grey Kangaroo is a marsupial found in southern and eastern Australia, with a population of several million. It is also known as the Great Grey Kangaroo and the Forester Kangaroo...
- European Bison
- Red Panda
Red Panda
The red panda , is a small arboreal mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It is the only species of the genus Ailurus. Slightly larger than a domestic cat, it has reddish-brown fur, a long, shaggy tail, and a waddling gait due to its shorter front legs...
Wetlands
- Capybara
Capybara
The capybara , also known as capivara in Portuguese, and capibara, chigüire in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador ronsoco in Peru, chigüiro, and carpincho in Spanish, is the largest living rodent in the world. Its closest relatives are agouti, chinchillas, coyphillas, and guinea pigs...
- Chilean Flamingo
Chilean Flamingo
The Chilean Flamingo is a large species closely related to Caribbean Flamingo and Greater Flamingo, with which it was sometimes considered conspecific...
- Lechwe
Lechwe
The Lechwe, or Southern Lechwe, is an antelope found in Botswana, Zambia, south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, north-eastern Namibia, and eastern Angola, especially in the Okavango Delta, Kafue Flats and Bangweulu Swamps....
- Great White Pelican
- White-tailed Sea Eagle
Oceans
- Humboldt Penguin
Humboldt Penguin
The Humboldt Penguin is a South American penguin, that breeds in coastal Peru and Chile. Its nearest relatives are the African Penguin, the Magellanic Penguin and the Galápagos Penguin...
- Common Seal
Cheetah Run
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 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.
Education Centre
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
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
and conservation and are aimed at students at both primary school and secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
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. This prestigious accolade is awarded to centres of education that meet high standards of quality and excellence with their educational services and facilities.