Wildlife in Action

With zoos and wildlife parks open again we catch up with wildlife news across the country and further afield. 

Dublin Zoo

The zoo opened its doors again last month with reduced capacity. A high demand for tickets crashed the website with families eager to enjoy the delights of Dublin Zoo again. Tickets need to be pre-booked for a specific date and time slot and are only available online and not at the gate of the zoo and there is  a one-way system in place along with hand sanitising stations and signs reminding people about social distancing and hygiene. There is no pre-sale list, every Thursday at 11am Dublin Zoo releases tickets in one-week batches, 14 days in advance, so for example tickets to visit the zoo during the week beginning 17th May will go on sale on Thursday 6th May. visit dublinzoo.ie 

Fota Wildlife Park

In Cork, Fota Wildlife Park also reopened last month for the first time since January 8 with the online pre-booking system managing numbers entering. There are no indoor areas open to the public and the layout is organised as a one-way directional walking route. The 100-acre wildlife Park is a not-for-profit organisation, is part of the Zoological Society of Ireland and is set on the scenic Fota Island in the heart of Cork Harbour. Open to the public since June 1983 Fota Wildlife Park cares for 135 species of which 75 face the danger of extinction in the wild. Tickets are only available by pre-booking and can be booked a maximum of a week in advance. Visit fotawildlife.ie 

Wild Ireland 

Wild Ireland is Ireland’s newest wildlife experience and a bit different to the others. Set in the secluded woodlands of Burfoot in Donegal it offers sanctuary to many animals which have been persecuted and hunted into extinction in Ireland such as Brown Bears, Wolves, Lynx and Wild Boar. It is the passion and brainchild of Killian McLoughlin who has worked tirelessly to recreate the natural habitats of these animals so they can now live, much as they would do, in the wild. A visit is as much an educational experience as a visual one with animal talks throughout the day, a particularly poignant one is with the bears who were rescued from terrible abuse. There is also a beautiful lake, home to swans, ducks and even otters. Visit wildireland.org.

Other Wildlife Parks

Outdoor petting farms and animal experiences were also able to open last month such as Ardmore Open Farm Wildlife Park in Waterford and Kildare’s Clonfert Pet Farm. However indoor experiences like the National Reptile Zoo in Kilkenny are hoping to open this month depending on restrictions.

Curlew chicks return to Lough Neagh

The return of two young curlew to Lough Neagh has been celebrated as a boost to the dwindling population.

The species are carefully monitored as one of Ireland’s most endangered species, having declined by 85% since 1985.

During survey work at the Co Armagh site this week, there was delight to see two young birds which had hatched there in 2020 return.

A Lough Neagh Partnership project had watched their journey from eggs in nests out on the site, through the hatching period and their eventual successful fledging.

The two birds were the only to survive to adulthood out of eight eggs.

Siobhan Thompson, National Heritage Officer, Lough Neagh Partnership, said: “It is unusual for young birds to return in the first year, however we know the tag numbers and colours and are keeping an eye to see what happens with them.

“It’s a wonderful thing to know we have seven young curlew potentially coming back to Lough Neagh in future years to breed.

“Two years ago most of the chicks we were monitoring in our project and surrounding area didn’t make it to adulthood and there are years when no young survive so it is incumbent on us to ensure we work hard to assist chicks to survive when we become aware of their nests.”

She described the curlew as an “iconic bird with a beautiful and unique sound”, but warned the situation regarding their survival is dire.

“We believe interventions like this would help to stabilise the population in the next five to 10 years,” she added.

The Shelter: Animal SOS

The work of the DSPCA, Ireland’s oldest and largest welfare charity, is featured in a new series on RTÉ One. The six-part series, filmed at the 32-acre DSPCA facility in the Dublin mountains over the course of a year, shares the trials and triumphs of a dedicated team of care-staff, vets and volunteers as they fight to save the lives of the many animals that need their help. Each episode offers an up close and personal look at the work of the DSPCA including the work of the veterinary team who fight to save the lives of the many domestic and wildlife animals that need their help every day. The series features a huge variety of animals - from cats and dogs to birds and ponies - and provides a unique perspective on the incredible work undertaken by DSPCA veterinary surgeon and former rugby player for Ireland, Elise O’Byrne White. 

The Shelter: Animal SOS, Friday, April 23, 8:30 pm, RTÉ One

Cher saves lonely elephant

Cher said the power of social media led her on a quest to save the “world’s loneliest elephant”.

The superstar singer and actress spearheaded a global campaign to free Kaavan, a four-ton, malnourished Asian elephant who had spent nearly 20 years chained up in Pakistan.

The creature was prodded to beg for tips while living in a cramped, dilapidated shed under the punishing Islamabad sun.

Kaavan’s living conditions led to dire health problems, including obesity, before his only mate died of neglect.

His plight led to a social media campaign that caught Cher’s attention and she eventually helped earn Kaavan his freedom.

The story features in the documentary Cher & The Loneliest Elephant. Cher, a prolific Twitter user with almost four million followers, said her fans’ persistence convinced her to help Kaavan.

She told the PA news agency: “I never actually intended to, I just got swept up in it because the kids on my site, on my Twitter feed, started sending me these pictures and it was all ‘free Kaavan, free Kaavan’.

“And I looked at the pictures and they were terrible but I thought, ‘I can’t do anything’, so I didn’t answer them and thought eventually they’ll just stop. But they didn’t and so I started to get involved.”

Cher, a chart-topping singer and Oscar-winning actress, co-founded Free The Wild with partners Mark Cowne, Gina Nelthorpe Cowne and Jennifer Ruiz.

She recorded the song Walls to boost the movement. Her efforts paid off in May 2020 when a court in Pakistan ordered Kaavan to be freed.

Working with the international rescue organisation Four Paws and vet Dr Amir Khalil, the team found Kaavan a home in a wildlife sanctuary in Cambodia.

In November 2020, Cher, 74, flew halfway around the world to secure the elephant’s rescue, which was captured in Cher & The Loneliest Elephant.

On using her celebrity for good, Cher said: “It’s not the first time I’ve actually done something like this but it’s all been done with human beings.

“So it is really hard, because people now send me pictures and videos all the time, it’s really hard and Free The Wild, we’re working on a bunch of animals right now, but you don’t get them quickly.

“So you have to start on all of them at one time and hope that you’ll be able to talk people into letting them go to a sanctuary.”

Cher & The Loneliest Elephant premiered in the US on the Paramount+ streaming service, visit smithsonianchannel.com for european dates of release. WW

All photos issued by the Smithsonian Channel of Cher in 'Cher and The Loneliest Elephant', a documentary due to be aired on The Smithsonian Channel in the UK, will tell the story of the global campaign spearheaded by the singer and actress to free Kaavan, a four-ton, malnourished Asian elephant who had spent nearly 20 years chained up in Pakistan.