'We have funds until June': Future of Fota Wildlife Park in doubt 

The Director of Fota Wildlife Park said 95% of the park's income comes from visitors

Sean McKeown, park director, Fota Wildlife Park, 

The Director of Fota Wildlife Park has said the park is facing permanent closure unless it reopens soon, warning they only have funds to keep them going until June.

Director Sean McKeown said the majority of the park’s income comes from visitor tickets, and without that, they will be in trouble this summer.

“95% of our income comes from visitors that come to the park, so we are totally dependent on that to actually run the park,” he said.

“If we don't have them in here. We're in trouble," he told RTÉ Morning Ireland.

Government aid has seen Fota through the first three months of the year, but if restrictions continue into the summer, the future of the park is in trouble.

Mr McKeown said they would like to reopen the park “in the next week to two weeks."

However, it would only open as a “walkthrough area” and all indoor areas would remain closed.

In December, the Government announced it was allocating €1m to Fota as part of a €3m fund that was shared with Dublin Zoo.

The aid has seen them through the first three months of the year, McKeon said, but if restrictions continue into the summer, the future of the park is in trouble.

A baby Red Panda at Fota Wildlife Park.

“We have funds to keep us going till June,” he said, and are hoping by then the combination of an uptick in Covid vaccinations and an easing of restrictions will enable visitors to return to Cork's beloved Wildlife Park.

Mr McKeown said domestic visitors have helped to keep the park open in the absence of foreign tourism. 

"Last year we had our busiest June ever, we had our busiest September ever, and the numbers from July and August were extremely good as well.” 

🔊 This is for anyone missing the sounds of #FotaWildlife Park at the moment.
Just play in the background to enjoy the iconic peaceful sounds of the Siamang #Gibbons in the park 😂
Thanks to Declan for the video. https://t.co/Azm4a9YRu8 pic.twitter.com/4BwAt1kB8s

— Fota Wildlife Park (@fotawildlife) March 6, 2021

Approximately half of the Park’s visitors during the months of June, July and August, are holidaying in the area, which brings a huge amount of income to the East Cork and greater Cork area, he said.

“It also brings a lot of money to us."

"Without that, it makes the future of the park look very bleak.” 

Fota Wildlife Park, which is set on 100 acres on Fota Island in Cork Harbour, is run by the Zoological Society of Ireland and attracts some 444,000 visitors every year.

It is a not-for-profit conservation organisation and has been involved in the conservation and reintroduction of species that are close to extinction in the wild including the Scimitar-horned oryx as well as the European bison.