Fota Wildlife Park endured €176k loss after dealing with costly cyber attack 

Fota is currently closed due to outbreak of bird flu

A female Rothschild's giraffe. Fota attracted 438,745 visitors in 2024

Dealing with the effects of a cyber attack contributed to Fota Wildlife Park suffering a €176,000 loss in 2024 despite strong visitor numbers.

Fota - which is currently closed due to an outbreak of bird flu - suffered the cyber attack in August 2024, which saw the park’s website and its online ticketing system taken offline. The park subsequently informed customers who paid for tickets online between May and August to protect their bank accounts and cancel any cards used on the Fota website.

Fota's financial statement for 2024 shows the park made a deficit of €176,697, compared to a surplus of €329,134 a year earlier. Fota reported gross income of €6.8m, including €5.4m from park operational receipts.

However, a crisis management operation was initiated which engaged with the Data Protection Commission, legal counsel,  specialised cyber security incident response services, and crisis communications support.

Fota Wildlife Park has been closed to the public since October 14 as it deals with a bird flu outbreak, and a spokesperson said on Monday it is likely to remain closed for the rest of November. Picture: Dan Linehan

Nevertheless, the park attracted 438,745 visitors in 2024, marginally down (0.3%) on the previous year’s 430,024 visitation. 

“Seasonal fluctuations were pronounced due to the early timing of Easter in 2024, resulting in March attendance of 24,741 visitors (up 52% increase from 16,292 in 2023), while April declined to 36,686 visitors (29% decrease from 51,461 in 2023). Peak season performance remained strong with June, July, and August recording 54,333, 75,427, and 82,465 visitors respectively, closely matching 2023 figures. The overall annual attendance demonstrates continued robust visitor engagement despite seasonal timing variations.” 

In June 2024, Fota officially opened its new Education, Conservation and Research Centre (ECRC), a €5.5m facility co-funded by the Office of Public Works (€2m) and the park itself (€3.5m).

Fota employed 79 people during the year. Staff costs, including pension contributions in 2024 were €3.03m.

The financial report also stated that 1,112 m sq of solar panels were installed across the administration buildings and giraffe house, establishing substantial renewable energy generation capacity for the Park's most energy-intensive facilities. "This investment aligns with both environmental sustainability goals and long-term operational cost reduction strategies."

Ominously, the 2024 Fota Island financial statement warned that outbreak of bird flu – along with climate change and an ecomomic downturn – were the biggest risk factors in the year ahead. Fota Wildlife Park has been closed to the public since October 14 as it deals with a bird flu outbreak, and a spokesperson said on Monday it is likely to remain closed for the rest of November. 

The ongoing closure means a loss of around €320,000 a month in revenue, while average weekly operational costs run to €120,000. The bird flu outbreak will severely hit Fota’s 2025 income – the park had more than 37,000 visitors in October and November 2024, while had predicted it would attract 14,000 visitors over the mid-term break alone.

The outbreak of bird flu has centred on the park's greylag goose population. As a result, the decision was reached to euthanise 73 birds at the park.

Fota Wildlife Park is operated by the Zoological Society of Ireland (ZSI) which also operates Dublin Zoo.