Fota Wildlife Park
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| Date opened | June 1983 |
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| Location | Fota Island, County Cork, Ireland |
| Coordinates | 51°53′23″N 8°18′41″W / 51.889585°N 8.311276°WCoordinates: 51°53′23″N 8°18′41″W / 51.889585°N 8.311276°W |
| Land area | 100 acres (40 ha) |
| Number of species | 80 |
| Annual visitors | 365,396 (2013) |
| Website | www |
Fota Wildlife Park is a 100-acre (40 ha) wildlife park located on Fota Island, near Carrigtwohill, County Cork, Ireland. It is an independently funded, not-for-profit charity that is also one of the leading tourism, wildlife and conservation attractions in Ireland. The park has an annual attendance of 440,000 visitors. Opened in 1983, the park is home to nearly 30 mammal and 50 bird species. Some of the animals roam freely with the visitors, such as the ring-tailed lemurs and wallabies, while larger animals, including the giraffe and bison, live in paddocks with barriers that are intended to be unobtrusive for visitors to view the animals in a more natural environment. Fota Wildlife Park also has red pandas, tapirs, siamang gibbons and other types of animals.
Fota Island was the former home of the Smith-Barry family, descendants of Normans who came to Ireland in the 12th century. While the family’s lands were originally more extensive, they dwindled over time until they were restricted to Fota Island. The estate was sold to University College Cork in 1975.
In the meantime, Dublin Zoo had reached maximum development with the space available. So in 1979, the director of Dublin Zoo proposed to the Zoological Society of Ireland Council that a wildlife park should be established, and the site at Fota Island was proposed. The same year it was formally agreed that the society would establish a wildlife park at Fota. University College Cork offered the land free of charge under license agreement. Fota Wildlife Park became a joint project of the Zoological Society of Ireland and University College Cork. Fundraising committees were set up in both Dublin and Cork. All the funds for the development were raised from public subscriptions, apart from a grant from Bord Fáilte for the perimeter fence.
The first animals started to arrive to Fota Wildlife Park in late 1982, and Fota Wildlife Park was opened in the summer of 1983 by the then President of Ireland, Dr. Patrick Hillery.
Cheetahs, by their nature, will not work for food if they do not have to, and to exercise the animals and for behavioral enrichment reasons, the park installed a "Cheetah Run" in 2006. This device suspends food items on a wire that travels 10 feet (3.0 m) off the ground, at approximately 65 kilometres per hour (40 mph).
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