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About Us
OUR VISION at the National Reptile Zoo is to inspire environmental literacy, conservation practice and curiosity towards reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates and their habitats.
Situating ourselves in the global context and discourse where awareness, access & action intersect – we provide a unique window into the diverse and complex world of creatures that are often vilified or misunderstood.
Facilitating an opportunity to experience, interact with and connect – enables learning and understanding that moves beyond the individual species.
The National Reptile Zoo invites you to explore our multidimensional world through the lives of these lesser known creatures.
Mission
To inspire passion about the lesser known species such as reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates.
To increase the levels of understanding of nature, its conservation, and our place within it as a species.
To support the conservation of individual species and their habitats.
To evoke curiosity and a desire within the individual to become more interactive with the natural world around them.
To bridge the gaps between people and wild places..
What to Expect at the zoo?
The zoo facility in Kilkenny includes the provision of over 60 themed habitats containing live animals. Each on-site habitat is designed to recreate the animal’s natural habitat in the wild.
This aims to fulfill the animal’s physical and psychological requirements and helps the viewers better understand each animal’s needs in the wild. Animals chosen to showcase are done so in line with the zoo’s Animal Collection Plan. This includes criteria such as the animal’s educational value for conservation education and its endangered status in the wild.
On each habitat there is an information placard describing various aspects of the species within. This details the species common and Latin name, a picture of the animal, it’s habitat in the wild, it’s geographic location in the wild, it’s IUCN Red List status, and three informative facts.
Over the last fifteen years we have expanded this approach and philosophy through various interactive facilities like; the Tropical Walk-through Habitat in Gowran (2015-2019), The Zoo to You mobile Zoo service (2010 onwards), and Zoo Zoom virtual interactions (2019 onwards), Youth camps (2023 onwards), The Research Hub – a lab & learning center for students (2022 onwards), The Nature Gallery that showcases wildlife films and art exhibitions.
The National Reptile Zoo