Lockdown time used for talking to the animals of Tayto Park

A MAJOR study of the behaviour of the animals at Tayto Park has been underway since lockdown.

The Theme Park and Zoo took the opportunity of lockdown to start a behavioural study of the animals.

"When this is all over we should have a definite picture of how they behave," says Aisling Power, assistant zoo manager.

Animals do not understand lockdown and despite Tayto Park's closure because of Covid-19 restrictions, the show must go on for those looking after the 350 animals at the Park's zoo.

Tayto Park is home to 90 different species and for the zoo’s staff of 18, work had to continue much the same as ever, since the early days of the pandemic in March.

"The animals still have to be fed, we have to ensure they are healthy and clean out their living quarters," says Aisling.

"They have to be looked after regardless. Even a few years back during Storm Emma in 2018 we had to look after them through the snow when everyone else was at home."

While Tayto Park can have 6,000 to 7,000 visitors a day at peak season, it was never open all year round, so Aisling doesn't think the animals miss the visitors terribly.

"The macaques, who are fairly inquisitive might notice a bit more, but they have always been used to periods when we had no visitors and they are still seeing the zookeepers."

Tayto Park is home to domestic and exotic animals including Amur tigers and Amur leopards, Sulawesi black crested macaques, a number of critically endangered species of vultures such as the African white headed and hooded vultures.

They also have native species such as golden eagles, red kite, peregrines and white tailed sea eagles.

Tayto Park still has a commercial herd of bison and some domestic animals including goats, sheep and donkeys.

Aisling is a farmer's daughter with a degree in Zoology from NUI Galway and she studies management of zoos in England.

"I started when we opened in 2010 and the place is unrecognisable now."

She explains the Tayto zoo is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

"We are involved in conservation and this opens the door to collaboration with other zoos.

"We are part of 20 different European breeding programmes and we do native conservation work.

"We are involved in a bumblebee and butterfly monitoring programme. We also support the Golden Eagle Trust."

A typical day for the keepers involves feeding the animals.

"We work with wildlife nutritionists so they receive the right amount of nutrients they need.

"They get huge amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables every day, especially the primates, we use a lot of hay and straw for the domestric animals and we have special feed from the UK and the Netherlands for the exotic species as well as meat for the carnivores."

Cleaning out the animals is one of the tougher jobs, particularly in the morning and during winter.

"It can be tough but we do it because we love it. It is a great job to have because we are outdoors all the time."

The keepers check on all the animals each day to ensure there are no obvious injuries or sickness.

"We also work on enrichment - changing the habitat and putting in different sensory experiences to keep the animals stimulated.

"We keep records of what they are eating and how they are behaving."

The keepers are also involved in positive re-enforcement training so that animals will co-operate with basic tasks like stepping onto a scale to be weighed.

"We don't treat them as pets. They are wild animals and we respect that. If any of these animals are to be reintroduced to the wild, we cannot have them interacting with humans."

Aisling is hoping that next spring, Tayto Park will be reopening as normal.

"We have had a very long quiet spell and a very short season this year, but we hope that we will be back to our usual opening times in the spring.

"In the meantime, we will ensure that the animals are properly looked after and are comfortable and fed."