What I don't understand is that they have only had them a relatively short time, and despite the loss of one of the females, have been doing okay with them. Seems an odd policy to me.
Lion cubs named Ri, Riann, Ravi and Rani. Loki is proving to be a fantastic big brother as he is great with the cubs. Arya and Amira have moved to Helsinki. Names of the four endangered Asian lion cubs announced after public competition concludes
1.0 Sumatran tiger cub born on 25th June. Visit Fota’s new rare Sumatran tiger cub and be in with a chance to win a holiday break this August I must add as well, I was at Edinburgh zoo last month and saw the cub's sister Dharma, who was enjoying a nice doze in her house.
Sorry to be a bit late with the news, but the tiger cub born back in June has been named Dash. New Male Sumatran Tiger Cub Named
1.0 Rothschild's giraffe born on September 14 to mother Sapphire and father Ferdie (his first calf). Fota announces the birth of a male Rothschild’s giraffe calf and wants your help to name him.
In a recent interview the director says the Madagascan village is due to open very soon, with housing for black ruffed and ring tailed lemurs and new additions, red bellied and blue eye black lemurs. He also says they had to wait 5 years for the recently acquired sloth. (Which I found a bit surprising.). On the website there is a report about golden mantella frogs, also due to be exhibited in the Madagascan Village. It all sounds promising and I have heard of a few more expected new species but not confirmed yet.
In the most recent annual review for Dublin and Fota, the most interesting Fota news suggests that the soon to be built Asian bear enclosure may house either panda or sun bear. So it is obviously still being considered as an option.
I’ll ask at Fota within the next few weeks what the plans are for the bears as of now I haven’t heard anything.
I'm sure sun bear would be more likely than giant panda, considering that the latter species is very expensive.
Well I was sure the bear species would be Sloth bear but according to the official report it seems Panda and Sun bear are still being considered. There was newspaper article/interviews and lots of rumours (from good sources) a few years ago, and Giant Panda was the proposed species. Anyway the article says that detailed plans have been developed for an Asian bear species (panda or sun) and it is hoped this will commence in 2020. Also have you heard when the new Madagascan area is to open? It was due to open in Autumn but there is no news on their website. .
Let us know how you get on at Fota and check out the Tapir area and the Macaw cage there. On the census for the last year it shows there were no parrot species in the park at years end, but its hard to find out where they went and if they will be brought back or replaced.
I can’t imagine Fota getting Pandas. Just doesn’t seem like something management there would do particularly with the cost of maintaining said species.
A new four part series on Fota is due to be screened soon on Virgin TV. Each part will include film of conservation projects and releases, including European Bison, Madagascar Pochard, Natterjack toad and others. It is expected that this series will help to raise awareness and boost the zoos profile and visitor numbers.
The Madagascan village was officially opened yesterday by the minister of state for tourism, Brendan Griffin TD. New Madagascan Village is opened by Minister of State for Tourism, Brendan Griffin TD
2.0 lion-tailed macaques born to mothers Kelly (on 26th September) and Lizzie (13th October), and father Mauzer. Two baby Lion-tailed macaques are unveiled to the public at Fota
Two Colombian spider monkeys have been born, one to mother Batty and father Arnold (on 27 December), and the other to mother Norma and father Pinky (11 January). The article below also gives some info on the upcoming tv series. Boy, I cannot wait to see it!! Two Baby Columbian Black Spider Monkeys & Fota: Into the Wild starts Sunday on Virgin Media
Just finished watching the first episode of Fota: into the wild on record, and I thought it was very interesting. Here are some key stories from the programme: -Both sets of Asian lion cubs. We see the first litter (from 2017) being introduced to dad Shanto, and watch as they grow up. -The birth of the Brazilian tapir calf born last year. -The director and one of the keepers travelling to Madagascar to look for wild lemurs. This is similar to the Dublin Zoo series, where keepers travel to different parts of the world to look for a species in the wild which the zoo supports a conservation project for. -And the drills and the sloth as they are transferred from Stuttgart. I'd say they were having fun monkeying around on the journey, !
