Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Bear essentials
Extinct animals return to Donegal as new wildlife sanctuary opens
THE brown bear is back in Ireland for the first time in thousands of years – and it’s all thanks to a new wildlife sanctuary.
The Celtic Tiger has returned too, but this one is a beautiful lynx called Naoise.
Along with wolves, deer and wild boar, they are just some of the animals that have made Co Donegal their home.
They are the residents of Wild Ireland – a 23-acre attraction in Inishowen which will open to the public on Friday.
Behind the project is Killian Mclaughlin, a solicitor and zoologist from Buncrana who has a lifelong passion for rescuing and rehabilitating animals.
He said: “People told me it would be impossible to do this in Donegal. But everyone has been really supportive. You need that. It’s a beautiful place.”
Killian, who has spent more than six years transforming the site, made it his mission to fill the sanctuary with animals rescued from dangerous or unsuitable places.
He added: “I worked with three major international charities to find the animals that needed rehoming. Our brown bears were kept in horrendous conditions in Lithuania. “The charity Bears In Mind confiscated them from a private mini-zoo where they were being kept behind bars in a small, dirty concrete cage. “We’ve created a fantastic home for them with a forest and pool and they have adapted beautifully.
“Naoise the lynx had never felt grass under her paws before. When she came out of her box she was totally overwhelmed.
“The lynx was the original Celtic tiger. They are magnificent cats but they were all hunted out of Ireland’s forests.
“It’s been really emotional releasing all these animals back into nature. All these animals were native to Ireland, but they were hunted to extinction or went extinct due to habitat loss.
“Ireland is in the temperate rainforest belt. A lot of people do not know that it used to be a rainforest. The trees are gone but the rain is still here.
“So it is one of the rarest habitats in the world and the climate is perfect for the animals.” Ferrets, swans, ducks, geese and other wildlife also roam the space, while five barbary macaques have their own unique monkey island.