Fota receives '€10,000 of individual private donations' over the weekend

Cheetahs in Fota. File picture: Darragh Kane

Fota Wildlife Park has received more than €10,000 in private donations over the weekend.

It follows an interview with the park’s director in which he said the conservation charity could be facing closure.

Some 95% of Fota's operating costs are reliant on gate receipts, annual pass sales and gift shop revenues.

In an interview last week, director Sean McKeown said that if Covid-19 cases do not decrease in the run-up to summer, and if visitor numbers don't pick up, Fota faces "a different scenario" and the prospect of closure.

Fota has been closed due to the pandemic since January 8, and the park will be facing financial difficulties if it misses “the peak visitor income period of July and August”.

Mr McKeown said that they have been humbled by the donations and by the reaction to the interview with RTÉ.

“I would like to thank the public for their generosity, we have been humbled here at Fota by their donations and the reaction to the interview on RTÉ,” he said.

“We received over €10,000 of individual private donations on our website over the weekend and we have seen reports of members of the public setting up GoFundMe initiatives.” 

Sean McKeown, park director, Fota Wildlife Park. Picture: Denis Minihane

Mr McKeown added: “The running costs at Fota are approximately €380,000 a month and it is a simple fact of life that if we have the continued prospect of no income and possible future Covid restrictions that would keep the Park closed until after the summer season, then closure may be a real possibility.

“However, we would like to stress that this would be a worst-case scenario.” 

Fota has said it is grateful for government support during the pandemic.

It received government funding of €550,000 from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the confirmation of €1 million in funding from the Office of Public Works to allow the completion of essential capital works that were commenced in early 2020.

A statement highlighted that in 2019, 462,000 visited Fota and income from visitors amounted to €5.2m annually.

“Any surplus funds generated goes into improvements in animal facilities, conservation, and the visitor’s experience,” the statement added.

“The overall impact of the Covid-19 pandemic was a loss of 18% in visitor numbers down to 385,000, visitor income was also down 17% in 2020 compared to 2019.

“Fota Wildlife Park spends on average €44,000 a month on the food and veterinary care for the 1350 animals representing the 135 species at Fota Wildlife Park.

“So far 2021 has seen only 3174 visitors compared to 41,623 in 2020 for the same period.”