Fota Wildlife Park Future plans

cornu aspersum

cornu aspersum

Well-Known Member
With that Irish Examiner article(https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...QFnoFCI4BEAE&usg=AOvVaw3yf4bP0wFb0dLe8W8iusUw) about bears, markhor, takin and Asian cranes coming to the park in 2025 it makes me wonder how probable it is at all. There doesn't seem to be enough space and while they might expand, the deadline seems to be next year. While it is more complex than just expecting animals at a certain date ( space and financial issues ) and Fota obviously has a fair idea of what they're doing I'm just worried if it might ever come to fruition.( At least they have the Education, Research and Conservation Centre complete in fairness)
 
While the takin, markhor and cranes have been planned from the beginning, the article you've shared does not mention any of these species at all, although they do mention getting either bongo or sable antelope (bongo sounds more likely given their threatened status). The last I heard about them getting takin was from this article from 2018: Fota Wildlife Park plans more than bear necessities in €16m upgrade

When I next visit Fota, I will try to find a keeper to ask if they still plan to get any of those species, unless someone else on the forum can do that.

Regarding the bears, I recently emailed Fota to ask if work on the bear habitat will start this year, and they said they currently have no plans. That doesn't necessarily mean they won't come next year, so we'll just wait and see. But it will definitely be interesting, as I've been waiting years for them to come!

I don't think the space to keep these animals is too limited. I've been doing measurements of the enclosures marked for the bears and takin/markhor on Google Earth, and the designated spaces seem to be adequate at least. Based on my measurements, the area where the takin and markhor were gonna go (south from the rhinos and east from the lions) is around 5-6,000m2, and the area where the bears were gonna go (north from the rhinos and east from the tigers) is around 3-4,000m2. In addition, the area marked for cranes (as seen in an old version of the map which I've linked below) is roughly 3,400m2. I had wondered if that space could be a second bear enclosure, as it looks big enough for at least one bear, but time will tell what its purpose will be.
https://media.ringofcork.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/15072220/map.jpeg
 
Babyrousa said:
While the takin, markhor and cranes have been planned from the beginning, the article you've shared does not mention any of these species at all, although they do mention getting either bongo or sable antelope (bongo sounds more likely given their threatened status). The last I heard about them getting takin was from this article from 2018: Fota Wildlife Park plans more than bear necessities in €16m upgrade

When I next visit Fota, I will try to find a keeper to ask if they still plan to get any of those species, unless someone else on the forum can do that.

Regarding the bears, I recently emailed Fota to ask if work on the bear habitat will start this year, and they said they currently have no plans. That doesn't necessarily mean they won't come next year, so we'll just wait and see. But it will definitely be interesting, as I've been waiting years for them to come!

I don't think the space to keep these animals is too limited. I've been doing measurements of the enclosures marked for the bears and takin/markhor on Google Earth, and the designated spaces seem to be adequate at least. Based on my measurements, the area where the takin and markhor were gonna go (south from the rhinos and east from the lions) is around 5-6,000m2, and the area where the bears were gonna go (north from the rhinos and east from the tigers) is around 3-4,000m2. In addition, the area marked for cranes (as seen in an old version of the map which I've linked below) is roughly 3,400m2. I had wondered if that space could be a second bear enclosure, as it looks big enough for at least one bear, but time will tell what its purpose will be.
https://media.ringofcork.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/15072220/map.jpeg
Click to expand...
Thanks so much for the reply. Somehow when I last went to the park I didn't even see any space for the bears and cranes. I assume the area marked for takin and markhor on the map linked above is now for the bison paddock. I agree that that they might add bears and will simply expand the African section with the bongos instead of the other Asian animals although it might take a couple of years realistically.
 
The area zoned for markhor and takin is currently a utility area and not part of any current exhibit as can be seen through satellite imagery. Current plans for Fota mostly involve upgrading existing exhibits as that 2022 article mentions regarding siamang gibbons.
 
I visited Fota today and I was lucky to speak to a few keepers on my visit. I asked one of them if the park was still planning on getting takin, and she said that the takin may not be coming for another 5-10 years realistically, same with the bears (I mentioned the news about the park's 2030 vision which mentioned the bears coming in 2025, and they said that's been delayed yet again). As I've been waiting for them for 10 years now, I feel like my patience has just completely dissolved!:mad:

Okay, maybe that was a bit too extreme. I know Fota have their reasons for delaying the developments, but I just feel fed up waiting for the bears and takin to finally come, as they were the species I was most excited about Fota getting for the Asian Sanctuary.

Anyway, I asked another keeper if the park were still planning to get cranes, and she said she had no idea, as she had just started working in the park. She was also unaware that Fota had been planning to get bears, as I brought up the subject after discussing the cranes. She thought that Fota would never get bears feeling there was a lack of space, until I told her about my measurements on Google Maps that I've mentioned in my last post. Still, it makes me more pessimistic about the idea of the bears not coming to Fota in the long-term, if ever.
 
Babyrousa said:
I visited Fota today and I was lucky to speak to a few keepers on my visit. I asked one of them if the park was still planning on getting takin, and she said that the takin may not be coming for another 5-10 years realistically, same with the bears (I mentioned the news about the park's 2030 vision which mentioned the bears coming in 2025, and they said that's been delayed yet again). As I've been waiting for them for 10 years now, I feel like my patience has just completely dissolved!:mad:

Okay, maybe that was a bit too extreme. I know Fota have their reasons for delaying the developments, but I just feel fed up waiting for the bears and takin to finally come, as they were the species I was most excited about Fota getting for the Asian Sanctuary.

Anyway, I asked another keeper if the park were still planning to get cranes, and she said she had no idea, as she had just started working in the park. She was also unaware that Fota had been planning to get bears, as I brought up the subject after discussing the cranes. She thought that Fota would never get bears feeling there was a lack of space, until I told her about my measurements on Google Maps that I've mentioned in my last post. Still, it makes me more pessimistic about the idea of the bears not coming to Fota in the long-term, if ever.
Click to expand...
While it's definitely frustrating we still have to hold out hope I suppose. Thanks so much for clarifying with the keepers tho:)
 
Babyrousa said:
I visited Fota today and I was lucky to speak to a few keepers on my visit. I asked one of them if the park was still planning on getting takin, and she said that the takin may not be coming for another 5-10 years realistically, same with the bears (I mentioned the news about the park's 2030 vision which mentioned the bears coming in 2025, and they said that's been delayed yet again). As I've been waiting for them for 10 years now, I feel like my patience has just completely dissolved!:mad:

Okay, maybe that was a bit too extreme. I know Fota have their reasons for delaying the developments, but I just feel fed up waiting for the bears and takin to finally come, as they were the species I was most excited about Fota getting for the Asian Sanctuary.

Anyway, I asked another keeper if the park were still planning to get cranes, and she said she had no idea, as she had just started working in the park. She was also unaware that Fota had been planning to get bears, as I brought up the subject after discussing the cranes. She thought that Fota would never get bears feeling there was a lack of space, until I told her about my measurements on Google Maps that I've mentioned in my last post. Still, it makes me more pessimistic about the idea of the bears not coming to Fota in the long-term, if ever.
Click to expand...
Totally frustrating that halfway through the new Asia Experience concept plans are not followed through with. I find that both mind boggling and inconsequential and not doing the zoo any good because people will remember the 2018 plans vividly. In order to become a more complete animal park and underscoring their zoogeographic concepts takin, markhor, bear and Asian crane (what cranes' exactly?)?
 
AthleticBinturong said:
Plans were put on hold due to older infrastructure needing significant upgrades e.g monkey houses. Also with financial limitations and an upcoming change in director there could be lots more changes.
Click to expand...
Right, what accomodation deficiencies existed here?

Mmmm, a change of director and a Masterplan gets changed? That is the high point sometimes for new personal perspectives driving planning into a direction totally 180 degrees opposite what sensible plans existed before.

As for the plans to bring in bongo and sable antelope (if and when it is Hippotragus niger we are talking about, some seem to confuse them for scimitar horned oryx): bongos is a rather unfortunate duplication with the Dublin Zoo. Why bother?

With sable antelope, FWP has a large herd of scimitar horned oryx right? Where will they put the sable antelope now? Here, Dublin Zoo also has scimitar horned oryx on the African savannah

SOURCE:
Fota Wildlife Park map
Map - Fota Wildlife Park

Dublin Zoo
Zoo Map | Dublin Zoo
 
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Kifaru Bwana said:
Asian crane (what cranes' exactly?)?
Click to expand...

The brochure I got for the development mentioned Siberian cranes in the plan, white-napes on the species table, and Japanese cranes on both. I would most like Siberians since they are critically endangered and there are currently no collections in Britain with the species (never mind that Fota is not in the UK).

Kifaru Bwana said:
As for the plans to bring in bongo and sable antelope (if and when it is Hippotragus niger we are talking about, some seem to confuse them for scimitar horned oryx): bongos is a rather unfortunate duplication with the Dublin Zoo. Why bother?

With sable antelope, FWP has a large herd of scimitar horned oryx right? Where will they put the sable antelope now? Here, Dublin Zoo also has scimitar horned oryx on the African savannah
Click to expand...

I agree with your point there. I feel like having the same species present in both collections gives a bit less variety to these zoos, especially as Ireland is comparatively lacking in zoos compared to, say, the UK. I would personally like to see them have species not currently present in Ireland like pygmy hippos, giant otters and Komodo dragons to name a few, as these are threatened species that are run by EEPs and are easily attainable elsewhere in Europe. That of course would depend on factors such as space and money.
 
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