New director a ‘perfect fit’ for Fota Wildlife Park

FOTA Wildlife Park has announced the appointment of a new director, Aileen Tennant, who has been described as “the perfect fit to lead Fota Wildlife Park into its next chapter”.

Ms Tennant will assume her role on July 1, spearheading the operations of the Cork Wildlife Park, which welcomes around 450,000 visitors annually.

A Carlow native and DCU science education graduate, Ms Tennant ran the discovery and learning department at Dublin Zoo for nine years.

She will now lead the senior management team at Fota Wildlife Park, driving the implementation of the organisation’s strategic goals.

Entrusted with the leadership, growth, and strategic development of Fota Wildlife Park, Ms Tennant will oversee all aspects of park management while also tasked with upholding its core values of conservation, education, research, animal welfare and visitor experience.

Her appointment comes at an exciting time of growth for Fota Wildlife Park, which is currently commissioning a state-of-the-art education, conservation and research conference centre.

“We are delighted to welcome Aileen as our new park director,” chair of Fota Wildlife Park, Jim Woulfe, said.

“Her extensive experience and dedication to conservation and education make her the perfect fit to lead Fota Wildlife Park into its next chapter of innovation, growth, and development.

“I’d also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our outgoing director, Sean McKeown, for his steadfast leadership in the development of the wildlife park and his commitment to conservation over the past 40 years. We wish him the very best on his retirement.”

Ms Tennant said she is “incredibly honoured” to join Fota Wildlife Park and “contribute to its mission to enable a more sustainable and biodiverse future, which will be driven forward by activity in the new education complex”.

“I look forward to working with the team to deliver positive change in the conservation of wildlife and to inspire visitors to join us in this mission at Fota Wildlife Park,” she added.