Fota Wildlife Park is facing a major financial blow after confirming it will remain closed for “a number of weeks” due to an outbreak of bird flu, with the cost potentially passing €1m.
The park should be welcoming 4,000 visitors over the Bank Holiday weekend alone, with 14,000 predicted for the mid-term break period.
Instead, park management confirmed on Wednesday it will remain closed following the outbreak, which originated from wild bird populations in the Cork Harbour area, and has kept the gates closed since October 14.
The park’s ability to generate revenue now faces a “significant impact”, while daily operations across the park must continue despite the restrictions and public closure.
Fota’s average weekly operational costs run to €120,000.
Eleven confirmed cases of avian flu have been identified in the greylag goose population at the park.
Fota made the decision to euthanise some of its impacted greylag geese, a “last-resort measure” to prevent wider transmission.
“This is an extremely uncertain and worrying time for all of us at Fota Wildlife Park,” said Fota Wildlife Park director Aileen Tennant.
“We are working closely with the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine and remain focused on the care and welfare of our team and the wildlife in the park.
“This action is being taken based on expert veterinary advice and our unwavering commitment to safeguarding birds in our care, especially our endangered breeding species.
“Our extensive, pre-existing vaccination programme and robust biosecurity protocols have proven successful, with the vast majority of birds in the park remaining healthy and showing no symptoms of illness.”
Fota Wildlife Park spans 100 acres and is run by the Zoological Society of Ireland.
It is one of Ireland’s best-known attractions, bringing in 428,745 visitors in 2024.
Only Blarney Castle and Doneraile Park see higher footfall of visitors in Co Cork than Fota, while Fáilte Ireland’s most recent annual visitor attractions survey in 2023 placed Fota as the 15th most visited in Ireland.
Ms Tennant added: “While our gates remain closed, our animal care team is continuing to deliver the highest standards of care for all of the animals at Fota Wildlife Park.
“We look forward to being able to welcome visitors back to the park when the site is officially deemed safe to reopen.”
Fota Wildlife Park is home to 21 species of captive birds, numbering approximately 168 birds in total and it already has mitigation strategies in place.
In consultation with the Department of Agriculture, it has begun isolating bird species in its care from the wild population and the construction of new temporary aviaries to house birds through the winter to limit the risk of further infection.
The bird flu outbreak at Fota follows a confirmed outbreak at The Lough in Cork city last month.
Poultry breeders have proposed localised lockdowns to safeguard Irish flocks. Irish Farmers’ Association poultry chair, Nigel Sweetnam, said talks have taken place with the Department of Agriculture regarding options to protect flocks.
“We’d have a huge concern about the traffic of wildlife in and out of Fota [Wildlife Park].
“One of the things we’ve looked for is that the enclosure should be netted, preferably to prevent wild birds from leaving or entering the park.
“The other big worry is its proximity to the mud flats and feeding grounds all around. The big worry here is that the disease isn’t going to go away in the park,” Mr Sweetnam told the Irish Examiner.
Meanwhile, operations at Fota House & Gardens, which is a neighbour of the wildlife park, are unaffected by the flu outbreak and it remains open for Halloween events through the midterm.
“We at Fota House & Gardens would again like to reiterate to the public that our operations remain entirely unaffected as we operate independently and separately from the wildlife park.
“We would further assure all those who have purchased tickets for upcoming events such as the Creepy Crawl, Halloween Trail, Wonderlights, and The Magic of Santa that these events will go ahead as planned.”