Dublin ZOONOOZ | 23rd May 2025

From: Christoph Schwitzer
To: All Dublin Zoo Team Members
Date: 23rd May 2025

Dear colleagues,
Our Native Species Festival last weekend, which Nora and I visited on Saturday, inspired us to go on an excursion and see some native species in the wild. At the festival, we had a lovely chat with the colleagues from the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, who look after the butterfly reserve at Lullymore West Bog in Kildare. They told us that the rare marsh fritillary butterflies (Euphydryas aurinia) had already emerged and were flying, so we made our way to Kildare last Sunday to try and find them.
The marsh fritillary is the only Irish insect listed on annex II of the EU Habitats Directive as an “animal species of community interest”, and it is also listed on annex I of the Bern Convention. It is classified as Vulnerable in Europe. The species is dependent on the presence of its main food plant, devil’s-bit scabious (Succisa pratensis), in its habitat. The adult butterflies have a short flight period in May and June and never fly far from where they emerge.

To find Lullymore West Bog, we headed to the Bog of Allen Nature Centre, drove past it, took a left turn at the end of the road, and then drove down a dirt track for about half a mile until that track ended. There is no real car parking, but the space at the end of the track fits about three to four cars (all of which were occupied by invertebrate enthusiasts!). From there, we walked another half a kilometre or so down a small path until we found the butterfly reserve on the right across a stile. The trip takes about an hour from central Dublin, and it is absolutely worth the drive. We very quickly spotted a marsh fritillary among the grasses and flowers, and within the space of an hour saw at least five or six more individuals, alongside at least three other native butterfly species. The reserve harbours more than 20 species of butterfly in total, so there’s plenty more to see at different times of year.

Dublin Zoo has been supporting the work of the Irish Peatland Conservation Council (IPCC – not to be confused with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change!) since 2011, and we are specifically providing funding for the conservation of the marsh fritillary and other butterflies in the 4.5-hectare Lullymore West reserve.
Have a great weekend,
Christoph Schwitzer
Director

News from Dublin Zoo:

Zoorassic Trail TAKEOVER

Mighty roars, epic stories and a real-life dino expert? Zoorassic Trail TAKEOVER is coming to Dublin Zoo!

Get ready to STOMP and ROAR through time at the BIGGEST prehistoric party, just in time for summer!

From Thursday 26th – Sunday 29th June, Dublin Zoo will be hosting a dino-mite series of exclusive family-friendly and 16+ events with world-renowned dinosaur expert ‘Dino Don’ Lessem. In his FIRST-EVER visit to Ireland, Dino Don, who was the original science advisor to Steven Spielberg on the iconic Jurassic Park movie, is flying from the U.S. to Dublin Zoo to host ROAR-some adventures, with something for all ages. Visitors will have the opportunity to meet Dino Don, hear behind-the-scenes stories, learn fascinating facts about your favourite dinosaurs, and so much more!

PLUS, everyone’s FAVOURITE Ranger Dan and the Roar Roar Dinosaur Crew are back at the Zoo for another DINO-mite adventure, featuring their brilliant interactive shows. These are one-of-a-kind, highly limited-capacity ticketed events, offering fans the rare chance to get up close and personal with Dino Don himself.
Check it out – Zoorassic Trail Takeover – Dublin Zoo!
Niamh Weldon
Marketing Team

Rehab Group Visit for Biodiversity Week
This Biodiversity Week, we were thrilled to welcome almost 500 members of the Rehab Group to Dublin Zoo – one of the organisation’s largest excursions to date! As part of this inclusive and educational visit, guests from one of Ireland’s leading disability organisations explored Dublin Zoo and Zoorassic Trail, engaged with conservation workshops and discovered the wonders of wildlife through self-directed learning experiences. We are proud to support meaningful initiatives that promote accessibility, sustainability, and a love for the natural world.

“The Rehab Group is thrilled to visit Dublin Zoo, one of Ireland’s top visitor attractions, with a group of over 500 of our members. This visit marks a key milestone in our diversity and sustainability efforts.”- Ciara Heffernan, Senior Communications Officer, Rehab Group
A massive thank you to everyone involved from the Conservation Education and Visitor Operations teams in organising such a wonderful excursion.
Christine O’Connor
Conservation Education

New climbing structures and roof feeders for Austin and Bossou
The Far Side Team have recently been evaluating the opportunities for exercise and locomotory behaviour that we provide to our chimpanzees Austin and Bossou, who currently reside in the large animal holding area (old gorilla house). Additionally, Bossou presented as overweight, and we wanted to encourage and challenge him to use his muscles more.
One aspect that was highlighted was that the boys could be inactive, and that more opportunities to climb could be added to their environment. So, we have made some exciting changes! A feed ball is now hanging from the roof, which can be filled by keepers every day using a pulley system. Both boys love the feeding system, and Bossou has been spending more time foraging up high than ever before.

We have also put in hanging baskets for them to create their nests higher up, as chimps naturally nest high up in the trees. The baskets have not been as popular with either Bossou or Austin, but it’s important that we give them control over their habitat and the choice to do so.
The change that the chimps have taken to most, is that their outdoor climbing structure has been extended upwards, giving them more space and opportunity to climb and an improved view out across the Zoo. They have been spending lots of time right up at the top of the structure each day since it was extended. You will never know if two chimps are watching you from afar as you walk around Dublin Zoo!
Marc Enderby
Assistant Curator

‘Building Community Together’ – National Volunteering Week
I am a firm believer that there is nothing more valuable in our lives than our time. So far this year, volunteers have contributed 6,381 hours to Dublin Zoo: helping visitors on their journey through the Zoo, conveying our conservation messages in creative and educational ways, assisting with animal watches, aiding in the welfare of the aye-ayes at the nocturnal house, assisting the education team with classes, learning the names, birthdays and habits of our animals and sharing this endless enthusiasm with visitors. Not to mention keeping up to date with ongoing volunteer training, assisting with lost and missing children and keeping visitors calm and happy while they wait for First Aid assistance. The time that our team of volunteers have contributed to Dublin Zoo is invaluable.

I have often had genuine curiosity from colleagues as to why someone would choose to volunteer; our time is so precious, and this becomes all to poignant if you have ever suffered a loss or illness in your life. The theme of this year’s National Volunteering Week (which we celebrate this week, 19–25 May) offers us a chance to appreciate the benefits not only of the contributions that volunteers make, but the reasons as to why people choose to volunteer.
This year’s theme, ‘Building Community Together’, recognises the social opportunities that volunteering offers. Outside of work and home life, volunteering is a third space for many, to make friends, enjoy life and connect. Friendships, laughter, banter and counselling make up the spirit of this community and formulate the why for some.
As a souvenir of this week, I created a short zine for our volunteers, featuring quotes and pictures recognising their community spirit (see excerpt above), and we have new posters on display in the Volunteer Centre with their pictures and quotes too. Feel free to pop in and say hi, our door is always open!
It’s important to remember that volunteer recognition should not be limited to a day or a week. Not only do we aim to consistently show our gratitude to our volunteers in different ways, but we also appreciated that this is reflected in Dublin Zoo’s culture and CARE values year-round, which enables us to build lasting relationships and keep our volunteers engaged with Dublin Zoo.
Muireann Walshe
Volunteer Coordinator

Native Species Festival
Last Saturday, Sunday and Monday, we celebrated the return of Native Species Festival at Dublin Zoo, with more than 25 different conservation organisations and government bodies joining us to showcase the work they are doing to protect Ireland’s species and habitats. Like last year, the event was a huge success, and feedback has been incredibly positive from all the conservation organisations who attended. We had nearly 12,000 visitors in over the weekend, which is an incredible achievement and an unparalleled audience for most of the conservation organisations. The participants also found it to be a very valuable networking event, as it is very rare that so many Irish conservation organisations are in the same location at the same time. Some highlights from the event included baby sharks from Galway Atlantaquaria and the Marine Institute, taxidermy depicting human-wildlife conflict from Atlantic Technological University, and live bee hives from University College Dublin and the Native Irish Honey Bee Society.
A huge thank you to all who came along over the weekend to meet the exhibitors and chat to them about their work. Also a huge thank you to Louise Enderby, David Walsh and Aaron Hennessy for all their hard work in bringing this event to life, both leading up to the event and over the three days! I also want to say a big thank you to Facilities and Ryans for their help, and of course our incredible volunteers.
Given the fantastic response to Native Species Festival, I am confident that we will be able to make this an even bigger event next year, and I am happy to chat to anyone who has ideas about how we can make it even better!
Andrew Mooney
Senior Conservation and Science Officer

Schools Event @ Native Species Festival
On Monday, May 19th, the schools event took place as part of Native Species Festival. Over 900 secondary school students from 13 schools attended, and there was a wide programme of events from Dublin Zoo and a number of our conservation partners (some featured below).
In the marquee, students got up close and personal with lots of native species like bees, birds and seals, with a host of conservation organisations from all over Ireland. A “Wildlife Detective” workshop ran in the Farmhouse Garden with Dublin Zoo Conservation & Science, while Emerald Park provided a “Life is a rollercoaster – how native species help us to ride it” workshop inside the Farmhouse alongside Secret Valley Wildlife Park, who had a dino-themed experience for the students. Over in the Discovery Centre, Seal Rescue Ireland ran a presentation on native Irish seals, while Dublin Zoo Conservation Education ran a citizen science-themed workshop, “Animal tracks and monitoring”, and Breeding Waders EIP facilitated a presentation on Irish bird sounds. Outdoors, Dublin Zoo Conservation Education ran a “Biodiversity bonanza” and two walking tours, “Wolves & Wildflowers” and “Bird Bingo”. The Irish Bee Conservation Project did a native species walk on site to spot some pollinators at work.
These great events were a unique chance for students to learn about Irish native species in an interactive setting, and we were delighted that there were so many quality engagement opportunities. Thanks to our conservation organisations for their participation! This is the second year in a row we’ve worked on this great event together.
Huge thanks to all our Zoo colleagues and volunteers, we really appreciate all your support!
Roseanne Leddy and Christine O’Connor
Conservation Education Team