Fota Wildlife Park Giant pandas for Fota?

Pertinax said:
Yes it does. It says 'we are looking at larger vertebrates, including the 'gibbon ape' and the Saola, a rare forest -dwelling' etc. indicating these would be considered among species for the new 27 acre development.
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it is a matter of interpretation. The quote says in full:
“We are hoping for future growth and have a plan to develop another 27 acres of land.
The new area will feature animals from Asia where some species are under threat. We are looking at larger vertebrates, such as the gibbon ape, or the saola, a rare, forest-dwelling antelope which was discovered in Vietnam in the Eighties. Others we would hope to protect include the Sumatran tiger, Indian Rhino and Asian lion.”

It doesn't actually say they are getting them or even planning on getting them. You can either read it as "we are looking at getting these for the new area" or "Asian animals under threat are saola, gibbons, etc", especially because the following line says "others we would hope to protect..." which implies that he is actually talking about wild protection rather than captive animals. As dublinlion said, it is probably a case of the journalist fouling up the conversation.

In any case, it's a moot point because there's not a chance in a billion that they would ever be able to get saola.
 
Chlidonias said:
it is a matter of interpretation. The quote says in full:
“We are hoping for future growth and have a plan to develop another 27 acres of land.
The new area will feature animals from Asia where some species are under threat. We are looking at larger vertebrates, such as the gibbon ape, or the saola, a rare, forest-dwelling antelope which was discovered in Vietnam in the Eighties. Others we would hope to protect include the Sumatran tiger, Indian Rhino and Asian lion.”

It doesn't actually say they are getting them or even planning on getting them. You can either read it as "we are looking at getting these for the new area" or "Asian animals under threat are saola, gibbons, etc", especially because the following line says "others we would hope to protect..." which implies that he is actually talking about wild protection rather than captive animals. As dublinlion said, it is probably a case of the journalist fouling up the conversation.

In any case, it's a moot point because there's not a chance in a billion that they would ever be able to get saola.
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But you must admit it reveals a high level of cluelessness, if the quote is even partially accurate.
 
reduakari said:
But you must admit it reveals a high level of cluelessness, if the quote is even partially accurate.
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I am tempted to say "absolutely" but, to be fair, if that part of the conversation with the journalist is actually about protecting wild populations then it could be argued the topic was protecting environments (e.g. funding for reserves, or rangers for patrols) and in that case saola would be a good figurehead species.

I rather think the first part of the quote ("The new area will feature animals from Asia where some species are under threat") was not actually connected in the conversation with the latter statements. I know very well how journalists twist whatever they are told, usually just because they don't understand the matter rather than through deliberate attempts to cloud things.

Having said that, if the zoo releases (or has released) a statement of their own implying that they are trying to get saola then I will quite happily eat my words :D
 
Chlidonias said:
You can either read it as "we are looking at getting these for the new area" or "Asian animals under threat are saola, gibbons, etc", especially because the following line says "others we would hope to protect..." which implies that he is actually talking about wild protection rather than captive animals. As dublinlion said, it is probably a case of the journalist fouling up the conversation.

In any case, it's a moot point because there's not a chance in a billion that they would ever be able to get saola.
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Yes, I read it initially as meaning the first- species they would like to bring to Fota but now think it is more likely a reference to threatened species in the wild, whereas 'the species we would hope to protect' may refer to other species they would like at Fota. It is rather unclear but I agree Saola would be just a pipe dream anyway if that is what they are hoping for.

As someone else has pointed out above, they have three species of Gibbons already- so the 'Gibbon Ape' reference seems just a generalisation too.
 
There are a lot of strong trading links between Ireland and China, a lot of Chinese companies have their European headquarters in Ireland due to the low corporation tax there. It would not surprise me that the Irish & the Chinese would want to strengthen their ties, perhaps with a gift like the panda. I have to agree with the above that Cork would struggle to get the high visitor numbers to "pay" for the panda, so if they were to come to Ireland I think they would end up in the capitol's zoo for several reasons. Mainly numbers & accessibility, Dublin is more central in the country.

Dublin had Panda in the 80's, infact the old Gorilla exhibit was originally built for panda. Now that the gorilla have moved and their exhibit is empty along with the old polar bear exhibit next door, I wonder what will go there. Personally I would like to see a better orang-outang exhibit built and if they were to bring in bears, go with sun bears or other Asian species to tie in with the themed area.

I would not like to see vast amounts of money spent on the piebald prostitutes when the money could be better directed towards improving existing exhibits such as the orangs and sealions!
 
IanRRobinson said:
Sorry to seem so sceptical, but just where is the capital coming from? Bristol have had to drastically scale back their short-term ambitions for NWCP, and as Shorts has pointed out, Fota is a bit off the beaten track to ever generate a particularly big attendance.
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Does anyone know what the annual attendance IS for this place?
 
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