Meet the animals of Fota — and the people who care for them every day
Passion. It’s the one word that unites the staff at Fota — from Ger, who manages the shop, and has worked there from the day it very first opened 31 years ago, to the warden who stops off at supermarkets for raspberries for a very picky iguana, to Sean McKeown, the director of the park and the man responsible for the breeding programmes for Northern Cheetahs across Europe.
Together, they form part of the small team of 45 people in winter — and double that in summer — who work at the park day in, day out. Incredibly, Fota, a non-profit organisation and registered charity, receives no funding — it relies solely on our entry fees and annual memberships for its very survival.
