Fota Island Wildlife Park has unveiled its newest arrival - a baby bison called Loes who was born on June 23rd.
The three-week-old is the fourth calf born to parents Helga and Boris since Helga moved to Fota from Germany last year. Loes brings the number of bison in the herd to seven, giving Fota one of the largest herds of the endangered European bison in Britain or Ireland.
Fota has been enjoying a summer baby boom of late. Two weeks ago a baby Scimitar horned-Oryx, a type of North African antelope that is now extinct in the wild, was born.
Last week a zebra foal was added to the herd, bringing the total number of zebras at Fota to seven. Other recent births in the park include a baby Saki monkey, whilst kangaroos and wallabies can be seen around the park with their "Joeys" peeping out of their pouches.
Bison herds roamed freely in central and western Europe in the middle ages but were hunted to extinction in the wild by 1927. Using 13 animals in captivity an extensive breeding programme has allowed many European bison to be re-introduced to the wild in recent years, predominantly in Poland and Russia.