The Fota Island Wildlife Park on the outskirts of Cork city is itself a rare species. Its origins can be traced back to 1979, when Dublin Zoo realised that in the context of resources and available space, it had reached its maximum development potential. Dr E.T. (Terry) Murphy, director of the zoo between 1957 and 1984, brought new thinking to the concept of the urban zoo.
In 1979, he advised the Royal Zoological Society that it should give serious thought to the establishment of a wildlife park. Its main advantage, he argued, would be the breeding of many species with which the Dublin Zoo had been successful, but due to limited space, it could not develop to its full potential.
His view, also, was that the zoos of the future would be different - they would keep fewer species in greater numbers as part of the international conservation effort.
This, he believed, would increase the breeding potential of endangered animals in a natural, attractive environment.
Dr Murphy's report was accepted. The proposed project received an enthusiastic welcome, and potential sites were investigated.
Luckily for Cork, several possible locations within a 30-mile radius of Dublin were deemed too costly or simply unsuitable.
That was 1979, the year in which a young Cork architect, Mr Bertie Pope, approached the society about the possibility of a zoo for Cork. In 1974, as a final year student, he had written his thesis on the subject.
Ideas were beginning to come together. UCC was contacted, and the response was positive.
In 1975, the college had purchased Fota Island. Prof Tom Raftery, head of the agriculture department at UCC, helped to move the project along. At a meeting, it was proposed that a 70-acre site be given rent-free under licence to the Royal Zoological Society.
The ground rules were laid. The animals and their offspring would remain the property of Dublin Zoo and funding would be through public subscription. In 1980, the Fota concept was defined by the parties to the project. It was not going to be another zoo. It was not going to be a safari park.
Rather, it would embody, in Dr Murphy's words, a new approach in which visitors would walk among animals in surroundings that were unfettered and pleasant, while the animals themselves, to all intents and purposes, "would have complete freedom". Cheetahs, of course, he pointed out, would require an enclosed breeding compound.
Then came 1982, and the first animals began to arrive at Fota. Zebras, initially, followed by cheetahs, giraffes, and monkeys, then flamingos and waterfowl. There was a difficult, but not insurmountable financial situation, and the park was officially opened by the then President, Dr Patrick Hillery, on July 27th, 1983.
And today? Today may hold the key to tomorrow. The park is a non-profit company - a registered charity under limited guarantee. It plays a highly important role in animal conservation and breeding.
Now, in co-operation with Trinity College, Fota Wildlife Park is a participant in a significant research project on the genetic diversity of cheetahs. The results of the research may play a major role in making possible a comeback for this and other species.
One of them is the scimitar-horned oryx, native to north Africa, but now extinct in its natural range. Fota is doing well with the species, and on the day I visited, a young oryx was munching happily on the lush vegetation.
The Fota oryx population would mean nothing, though, if similar breeding projects around the world had not embarked on the same mission. The fact that they have and that information is constantly being pooled means that when suitable males and females mature, they can be exchanged.
Is there a better way to teach young people about conservation than by allowing them to walk through a wildlife park such as Fota, to see the endangered species being preserved under expert management techniques? Other notable breeding successes include the red panda; the axis deer; Indian blackbuck; siamang gibbon; white-headed gibbon; lion-tailed macaque; macaw; plus many of the (as of now) less-threatened species.
The complex is already providing one-day courses in ecology for Leaving Certificate and Junior Certificate students who are asked to do field work and answer questions later back in the theatre. From now on, transition year students will come to Fota on environmental awareness courses. Further developments may be adult classes in conservation and similar studies for foreign language students.
As it is, the Fota facilities are already being used extensively for study by third-level students at UCC. As part of their syllabus, all zoology students visit the park for field studies. Periods spent there range from one day for first-year students to two weeks for third and fourth-years.
The park is also used as a research centre by final-year undergraduates and postgraduates to Ph.D. level, not only from UCC, but from other colleges.
In 1990, the park was visited by 158,618 people. Last year, almost 190,000 came. Fota is making a modest profit, enough to maintain this bold experiment, and its future seems secure.