Fota Wildlife Park

Tom say’s ‘we came all this way to Ireland just to go to a zoo?” – YUP!!

On a small island just outside Cork is the Fota Wildlife Park. Which is unlike any zoo I’ve ever been to.  As a rule, I don’t care for caged animals, but this place is pretty much ‘free-range’. The habitats are massive for each of the species they have in this 100-acre park and some are actually allowed to
room free with other animals and well as us humans.  So Cool.  The first time I saw a Kangaroo hopping along I was afraid it got-out of its enclosure, but no, many of them are free to hop about where ever they like. The entire park is kept as unobtrusive as possible (for the animals) which seems to be a nice way to live. Better than any zoo I’ve ever visited.

Part of this set-up is allowing the animals to seek shelter, or go to sleep, when they deem it necessary. They all have some sort of water feature – whether they want to swim, frolic or just go for a wet walk.  Many of their ‘inside homes’ are visible via thick plexiglass windows. The big cats have a very extensive area with enclosed cat-walk (haha) over your head, tunnel under the walkway, trees, grassy mounds, lots of places to hide and seek and their own pools.

Zebra’s and Ostrich roam a large savanna together and the giraffe come out when they want to. Otherwise the giraffe are free to wonder in and out their own habitat. 

Now the cheetah’s set up is quite unique and huge. Once a day (we missed it since it was going to be later in the day) they chase their food. A special device which suspends their food on a wire travels 10-feet off the ground, at about 40 mph around their grounds.  If you’re there at 3pm, you can see them haul-ass by. What a great enrichment and exercise program for them.  We heard the gibbons before we ever saw them, playing and swinging from limb to limb on their own

island, with a cool rope bridge access into their ‘indoor’ habitat.  Birds of all sorts fly and swim, even lemurs are free to go where they like. I have to assume that the animals know the places to stay out of, and they pretty much avoided us. They have lots of activities for kids, special petting times and a nursery.  They have a cute little train that runs around if you’re not up for the 2-hour walk.

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