All Asian creatures great and small come to Fota

EXOTIC creatures such as tigers, leaf-eating monkeys from Indochina and Asian wild horses are to be brought to Ireland’s only wildlife park as part of a €20 million upgrade.

The first phase of the major redevelopment, the creation of an ‘Asian-themed area’ on a 27-acre extension is expected to get under way this Summer, at Fota Wildlife Park in Co Cork.

Wildlife park director, Dr Neil Stronach, said it is planned to populate the area with wild Asian horses — the ancestors of the modern horse — and Dholes, which are highly social wild dogs. In addition the park has also sourced Takin, a goat-like animal native to the Himalayas.