Zoo news – April 2025

April has been a busy month for the zoo with lots of work going on behind the scenes. Read below to find out more!

Park is fully open!

Emerald Park is now open and we’re delighted to see so many new and familiar faces visit us. We had some great sunshine starting off and its great to see people arriving even on the wetter days, there’s something for everyone here no matter the weather!

Our Discovery and Learning team have been giving talks, running educational games and showcasing amazing adaptations in our education centre. As well as engaging with our lovely guests and sharing their love for the animals and natural world in our zoo.

We hope to see you soon!

Butterfly Monitoring

This month we have started our butterfly monitoring, weekly surveys along the park take place and we record all species of butterflies we find. The data gets submitted to the National Biodiversity Data Centre as part of a nationwide survey. Citizen science like this is incredibly important and provides a wealth of data for researchers to use in monitoring the health and diversity of butterfly populations throughout Ireland. This year our first butterfly spotted is the small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae), a rather charismatic, unmistakable species of butterfly.

You can also help in projects with the National Biodiversity Data Centre and the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, check out how to get involved at www.pollinators.i

New Goeldi’s Marmoset

We’re delighted to announce the arrival of a new male Goeldi’s marmoset, named Nose! Coming from Dublin Zoo, he will be introduced to our female Rue in a few weeks.

Goeldi’s marmosets (Callimico goeldii) are a small monkey species found in Bolivia, Peru, Columbia, and Brazil. Preferring to live in the understory layer of the forest rather than the canopy.

Their diet consists of fruit, insects, tree sap, small amphibians and lizards, they’re also the only primate species where fungi is the majority of their diet for some of the year.

They are currently listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, causes for population decline can be attributed to deforestation for human development and increase in agricultural activities.

Thanks for reading. Check back next month for more zoo updates!

The Emerald Park Zoo Team