Ostrich chicks on show at Fota Wildlife Park

FIVE ostrich chicks have gone on show at Fota Wildlife Park where the flock had to be put down in 2009 due to an outbreak of avian TB.

The chicks, which are 10 weeks old and less than a foot tall, bring the ostrich numbers at the park to seven and will be used to rebuild the flock.

Although they are being housed separately for the time being, they will be moved into the African Plains area when they are older, where they will live alongside giraffes, zebras, emu and scimitar-horned oryx in the savannah area.

Wardens at the park were hit hard in September 2009 when the flock of three ostrich had to be put down after one of them was confirmed with TB.

Park director Seán McKeown said: “The death of an animal is never easy and it’s even worse when it has to be enforced as a way to prevent disease spreading to other animals. But now we can look forward to keeping a big flock of ostrich once again.”

The new arrivals came from Noah’s Ark Zoo in Bristol as part of a breeding exchange which saw two maras (the fourth-largest rodent in the world) and a meerkat that was ousted from its clan go in the opposite direction.

The baby ostriches have not yet been named and the park may run a competition to come up with some suitable monikers.