‘Life goes on, even when the park is closed’: Inside Fota Wildlife Park’s battle with avian flu
Staff at Fota Wildlife Park still struggle to keep thoughts of that “horribly dark day” at bay, when avian flu left them with no choice but to euthanise 73 of their dearly loved animals.
A month into the crisis, Aileen Tennant, the director of the facility, has tears in her eyes as she recalls an impossibly difficult decision no zoo should ever have to make.
“It’s a day I hope to never have to relive in the park,” she tells the
Just 14 months into the role, Ms Tennant is being praised for the resilience and compassion she has displayed during an unimaginably traumatic time for all involved.
Joyful scenes of smiling kids and enthusiastic visitors that once brightened the view from her office window have now given way to an emptiness.
It comes just over a month after the popular attraction was forced to close to visitors due to an outbreak of avian flu that has left some 83 birds housed in temporary isolation aviaries.
The closure means a loss of €320,000 a month in revenue.
Still, the public find other ways to show their undying loyalty.
The stack of letters on Ms Tennant’s desk remind her and the team they are not alone. A miraculous medal sellotaped to some carboard accompanied by a handwritten note is among the heartfelt gestures.
“God bless for all,” it reads, “save the birds.” There has also been a modest stream of donations.
However, significantly more are needed to allow the Cork institution weather this particular storm.
Scenes reminiscent of a world we thought we had had left behind after the covid pandemic, remain a reality for the team at Fota Wildlife Park, but even during these bizarre times with no reopening date in sight, life goes on for the animals.
“It's incredibly challenging to see the park closed but life goes on the keepers and rangers continue to come to work every day,” Ms Tennant said.
"Our influenza vaccination programme has been very positive because our birds that were vaccinated haven’t tested positive.”
This is little comfort, however, for many team members struggling under the weight of so much uncertainty.
“We had to make a really difficult call while working in conjunction with the department of agriculture," Ms Tennant explains.
"A decision was made to protect the wider population. We had to look at the birds and make a desperately hard decision to euthanise the ones that weren’t of high conservation value which you can imagine was a horribly dark day for the team."
This wasn’t a rushed or — by any means — straight-forward decision but these are the things we have had to do to try and come out of this and protect the flock and all the birds going forward.
"Sitting with the reality of this is tough but it’s also part of a national challenge we are dealing with that has become an international challenge.”
Through it all, the park’s rangers provide the same exemplary care to the animals they always have as they navigate the realities of a very different Fota.
This includes parts of their routine lesser known to the outside world which include weight management of the animals and behavioural monitoring.
As with every dedicated team they are known for going beyond the call of duty too.
Eibhlín Murphy, a ranger with Fota Wildlife Park who specialises in caring for primates, revealed they even have a system to track the animals’ birthdays.
“The primate team have a calendar with every single birthday so we don’t miss them,” she told the
“It’s a special thing for all of them. There are some very important occasions. For example when our oldest primate Clyde turned 45 this was something we really wanted to celebrate."
"What we normally do is get the leaf eater pellet, which is a specially formulated, high-fibre, low-starch food for leaf-eating primates and soak it and shape it into a cake.
"We’ll decorate it with the nice bits so a little bit of fruit and maybe some natural yoghurt depending on the species.
"We work with some primates who don’t play well together. They need their food spread out so we make them little cupcakes. Some get a cake and the first thing they do is tear it apart.
"It might be the leaf eater pellet with some hidden raisins in it.
"Understandably we can’t add candles as everything has to be edible so we’ll normally use parsnips crowned with raspberries to give the illusion that the cake is lit.”
While animals enjoy the rare treat, weight management is an important element of their weekly routine.
Senior ranger John Leahy, who specialises in caring for carnivores at the park, knows this all too well.
“For the cats we have a large weighing board. All the lions, tigers, and cheetahs are trained to sit like your domestic dog so even the male lion will sit for me on the weigh board.
"Their actions are voluntary and you spend as much time as possible trying to build that up.
"When he is in the viewing area the lion will come up to the glass and jump at people but away from that he’s very calm.
"We manage their food while making sure they never go hungry.
"At the same time we don’t want them to be overweight and this is where the weighing comes in.
"Just like with your domestic cat, a fat cat is just going to go and lie down somewhere all day which is not going to be good for their bones or their joints.
"This can result in the same issues that humans are susceptible to such as arthritis and diabetes. For that reason we weigh them every month and adjust their diet accordingly.”
The team try to encourage natural animal behaviours as much as possible.
“It works slightly differently with the cats because we have 'starve days' throughout the week.
"In other words we don’t feed them every day in order to replicate the wild diet.
"We normally have two starve days a week — including Wednesday and Sunday.
"When you take wild tigers for example, eight out of every 10 hunts are unsuccessful.
"Only two out of every 10 they actually get to eat. We try to replicate that because their digestive systems are different to our own so they don’t need to eat multiple times a day like primates.”
Meanwhile, Eibhlín laments that primates are missing out on the stimulation that comes with seeing visitors at the park.
"You will always see them watching certain colours and shapes and being as fascinated with us as we are by them.”
Conservation remains at the forefront of everything the Fota team does.
“People know all about the conservation of the exotic animals but there is also a huge focus on saving our native species from becoming extinct including the natterjack toad.
"This is the rarest amphibian in Ireland and is restricted to specific coastal habitats in Co Kerry.
"While nature documentaries are great for children, to take in the sights and smells of real animals in places like Fota is an educational and awareness tool like no other."
Visit fotawildlife.ie/products/donate-to-fota-wildlife for information about how to donate to allow Fota continue its vital animal care and conservation activities while the park remains closed.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
