Secret Valley Wildlife Park

I first heard about this wildlife park in Co. Wexford from looking on the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquaria’s (BIAZA) website and seeing all of their member zoos and aquaria in Ireland. BIAZA also published an article about it in their Autumn 2018 magazine, as their featured member for that issue. It was not until August of 2019 that I visited Secret Valley Wildlife Park with my mother.

The park first opened to the public in 2007 and was initially focussed on farm animals. Today, it is a rather mammal-heavy institution; in addition to domestics, the park is also home to corsac foxes, short-clawed otters, raccoons, meerkats, porcupines, prairie dogs and capybaras. The park is also home to a handful of reptile and invertebrate species, and only one bird species (blue-and-gold macaw) is kept here.

And let’s not forget the primate species kept at the park, which include two species of capuchin, ring-tailed and white-fronted lemurs, cotton-top tamarins and rhesus macaques. The capuchins were rescued from the illegal pet trade or abandoned in Germany, likewise with the tamarins. The macaques were kept as laboratory subjects before being rescued and rehabilitated at Stitching AAP in the Netherlands (which also rescued the capuchins) before moving to Secret Valley.

Most of the animals at the park have their own standalone enclosures, while all of the reptiles and invertebrates are housed in the Animal Encounters shed. The prairie dog and meerkat enclosures are also within this building, with the aviaries for the macaws and raccoons located on the outside. A spurred tortoise named Toby can be found trodding around an enclosed area of the shed, which is accessible for visitors. The park also has a wildflower meadow and pond near the entrance, providing an area for recreation.

Secret Valley received a full zoo license in 2013, making it the only zoo in the south-east. The park is currently 14 acres in size, but has a total of 50 acres of land, giving them the potential to expand and develop new animal habitats. The park have been developing a 20-year master plan, which includes developing an area dedicated to educating the public about the illegal wildlife trade. It would certainly be interesting to see what changes will be happening at the park over the next number of years!

Link to their website: www.secretvalley.ie/