Fota Wildlife Park Re-Opens with Strict Measures in Place

Fota Wildlife Park is to re-opened today, 20th May, with enhanced protocols and procedures including pre-booking for visitors.

Fota Wildlife Park today opened its gates to the public for the first time since it closed on the 24th March due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Fota Wildlife Park, a conservation charity, is initially limiting numbers at any one time in the 100-acre Park to 500 people and has introduced measures such a pre-booking system for visitors and has set up a one-way walking experience that reinforces social distancing. Other measures include the continued closure of indoor areas like the cafes and activities that may encourage people to gather, such as feeding times and playgrounds which will not be available in this phase as part of the Park’s ongoing efforts to assist the community in preventing the spread of Covid-19.
Sean McKeown, the Park’s director said “We are delighted to be able to open our gates once more and very excited to finally see the arrival of visitors back to the Park. It’s has been a very challenging time for us here as a not-for-profit conservation organisation, but we’ve been humbled by the support from the public and we’ve received hundreds of euro in donations through our website. We get queries from the public daily as to when we’re reopening and what we ask now is for some patience at this time as these systems and pre-booking protocols are all still very new to us.” He continued: “We’d also like to exhort everyone to follow official advice at all times and for only those living within the five-kilometre radius of Fota to travel to the Park during phase one of the government’s Roadmap for Re-opening Businesses. Our priority at this time is for the continued safety and well-being of our visitors, staff members and of course the animals, so we ask everyone to adhere to the recommended social distancing advice.”

Be sure to double check that you are following the Governmental travel restrictions before booking a slot, which is currently limited to 5K.
Other precautions and measures taken by Fota Wildlife Park are extra cleaning, disinfecting and the placement of hand sanitisers throughout the Park. In addition, the Tropical House, Madagascan Village, Oasis restaurant, wildlife talks, face painting and tour train will not be available until later phases of the Roadmap for Re-opening Businesses and Society plan. For full details of how to prepare for your visit and what is available to experience at Fota Wildlife Park please visit here.