A pair of Sumatran tigers were prowling through Fota Wildlife Park’s new Tiger Forest enclosure yesterday as the first phase of its proposed €6m Asian Sanctuary extension was unveiled.

The park’s first tigers, Denar, a two-year-old male, from Warsaw Zoo in Poland, and Dourga, a two-year-old female from Le Parc des Félins in Nesles, France, are now roaming freely inside what is now one of the largest tiger enclosures in Europe.

Designed around an existing forest with a lime kiln at the centre, it has a tunnel and a raised walkway which will, from tomorrow, allow visitors to walk up, around, and through the enclosure to experience the tigers close-up and below.

This is part of the first phase of the massive 27-acre Asian Sanctuary expansion which will increase Fota’s overall size by some 40%, making it one of the largest wildlife parks in Europe.

The Tiger Forest, which can accommodate up to 10 tigers, is one of the biggest areas in the proposed new sanctuary.

The expansion is being developed behind the penguin and bison enclosures to the north of the park.

It will eventually include 13 new buildings for animals, two new lakes, a second entrance building, an animal dung storage building, a small souvenir shop, a restaurant and a viewing building.

The park’s head of marketing, Stephen Ryan, said they hope it will be a huge boost for Cork.

“The opening this weekend is not only an exciting time for us but we feel it is of huge benefit to the region as we open the first piece of a €6m development that we hope will turn the park into an iconic visitor attraction,” said Mr Ryan.

It is hoped that work on phase one will be finished by the end of the summer, with the introduction of visayan warty pigs and spotted deer and the relocation of many of its Asian species, including red panda and lion-tailed macaques.

The long-term plan is to introduce rhinos, Japanese cranes, Takin antelopes, and Asian bears.

Mr Ryan said they will need public and corporate support to fund phases two and three, each costing in the region of €2m.

“People or businesses can help the park in a number of ways by buying tickets, membership, sponsor an animal or donate money towards the sanctuary through our new donation page on our website,” said Mr Ryan.

The park is currently home to 614 animals but another 103 will be introduced to the new sanctuary area.

Fota Wildlife Park is one of Ireland’s most visited attractions, with 380,000 visitors in 2011 and 377,000 in 2012.

The new development is expected to generate a 20% increase in visitor numbers.

The new Tiger Forest opens to the public at 10am tomorrow.

Different stripe

- The Sumatran tiger is a critically endangered tiger subspecies from the Indonesian island of Sumatra;

- They are the smallest of all tigers, which helps them navigate the dense, tropical forests in which they hunt;

- They are solitary animals and are highly adapted to ambush hunting, using their stripes as camouflage against dappled light of the forest floor, where they lie in wait to prey upon wild boar, birds, tapir, fish and deer;

- Sumatran tigers were classified as a critically endangered species by IUCN in 2008 when the population was estimated at between 441 and 679 individuals with no sub-population larger than 50 individuals;

- The Sumatran tiger is the only surviving member of the Sunda Islands group of tigers which included the now extinct Bali tiger and Javan tiger.