DSC_9333- Old irish goat
Wild Ireland is a wildlife sanctuary for rescued animals. Visitors can step back in time to an ancient woodland, inhabited by brown bears, wolves, lynx and wild boar.
Wild Ireland is a wildlife sanctuary set in a little piece of Celtic rainforest on the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal, on the Wild Atlantic Way.
Wild Ireland focuses on animals that were once native to Ireland so they are perfectly adapted to the environment. Brown bears, European wolves and lynx all now live among other animals in large natural habitats back together in the Irish forest for the first time in thousands of years.
Lots of wild birds inhabit Wild Ireland and the lakes are home to swans, geese, ducks and even an otter. There are lots of other animals for visitors to see, such as red foxes, crane, wild boar, deer, capercaillie, snowy owls, wildcats and barn owls.
Wild Ireland is the realisation of a childhood dream for solicitor and zoologist, Killian McLaughlin.
He has been rescuing and rehabilitating animals since he was a boy in his back yard in Buncrana but he wanted to give them more space and ultimately see animals that have become extinct in Ireland, through hunting or habitat extinction, re-homed in native woodland.
Six years ago he began work on developing Wild Ireland in an ancient forest near the border with Northern Ireland and try to turn back the hands of time by bringing in animals that were once native, including wild boar and deer.
Apart from the monkeys, all the animals in the sanctuary were once native to Ireland and all have been rescued from dangerous or unsuitable situations.
Mr McLaughlin worked with several international charities to rescue the animals and bring them to Donegal.
The three bears, two sisters and their brother, came from a private zoo in Lithuania where they were living in a concrete cell with iron bars. Mr McLaughlin said the brown bears are the only ones currently in Ireland.
DSC_9333- Old irish goat
Wild Ireland is a wildlife sanctuary for rescued animals. Visitors can step back in time to an ancient woodland, inhabited by brown bears, wolves, lynx and wild boar.
Wild Ireland is a wildlife sanctuary set in a little piece of Celtic rainforest on the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal, on the Wild Atlantic Way.
Wild Ireland focuses on animals that were once native to Ireland so they are perfectly adapted to the environment. Brown bears, European wolves and lynx all now live among other animals in large natural habitats back together in the Irish forest for the first time in thousands of years.
Lots of wild birds inhabit Wild Ireland and the lakes are home to swans, geese, ducks and even an otter. There are lots of other animals for visitors to see, such as red foxes, crane, wild boar, deer, capercaillie, snowy owls, wildcats and barn owls.
Wild Ireland is the realisation of a childhood dream for solicitor and zoologist, Killian McLaughlin.
He has been rescuing and rehabilitating animals since he was a boy in his back yard in Buncrana but he wanted to give them more space and ultimately see animals that have become extinct in Ireland, through hunting or habitat extinction, re-homed in native woodland.
Six years ago he began work on developing Wild Ireland in an ancient forest near the border with Northern Ireland and try to turn back the hands of time by bringing in animals that were once native, including wild boar and deer.
Apart from the monkeys, all the animals in the sanctuary were once native to Ireland and all have been rescued from dangerous or unsuitable situations.
Mr McLaughlin worked with several international charities to rescue the animals and bring them to Donegal.
The three bears, two sisters and their brother, came from a private zoo in Lithuania where they were living in a concrete cell with iron bars. Mr McLaughlin said the brown bears are the only ones currently in Ireland.