Fota Wildlife Park is on Fota Island and there is around 70 acres to walk around and enjoy. Plus its only a short 15 minute cute train ride from the city of Cork. The park is in no way like a normal zoo, here you can pet kangaroo´s lying in the sun and chase away lemurs that try to eat your picnic!! There is a special baby enclosure where you can see all sorts of new baby animals. Its a great day out for everyone. There is also Fota House which is beautiful but the animals win every time. A great many of the species at Fota are under serious threat in the wild. Only approximately 10,000 cheetahs remain in their natural habitat and Fota Wildlife Park is the world's leading breeder of this endangered species.

Also being bred at Fota is the Scimitar horned Oryx brought to the brink of extinction, but being reintroduced in its native North Africa; the Lion-tailed Macaque of which only about 800 remain in a tiny patch of Indian forest; and many other species for which wildlife parks such as Fota are their only chance of survival. Visitors have a rare opportunity to witness conservation in action; already the park has achieved international success in breeding cheetahs. Enjoy a leisurely stroll past curious kangaroos and frolicking monkeys. There's a playground for kids, and a coffee shop for relaxing. The Gardens are vast and spectacular. Begun in the early 19th century, they were developed by the Smith Barry family over the generations. We got just a little taste, walking under the massive trees and brushing through the fern garden, which felt like a peaceful, tropical paradise. I saw a heron by the lake. The Wildlife Park has 70 acres of open countryside where animals roam freely. It is literally a zoo - the brochure reads "bring your little monkeys to meet our monkeys." Because it was overcrowded with people, we didn't venture in.