Kodaline walk on the wild side in music video shot in Fota Wildlife Park
Fota Wildlife Park features as the video location for Kodaline’s latest track ‘Ready to Change’ from their new EP ‘I wouldn’t Be’, .
The music video ‘Ready to Change’, which was released yesterday by Sony Music, was filmed at Fota Wildlife Park over two days in August.
Many of the staff featured as video extras during the production.
The ‘Ready to Change’ storyline revolves around two characters, Roland and Penny, who bond over their mutual care of animals - especially pandas.
While Fota Wildlife Park is not home to panda bears, it does home a family of endangered Red Pandas who recently welcomed an addition to their family in the form of male twin cubs who were born on June 27.
The red panda is officially classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as endangered.
The location fees generated from filming at Fota Wildlife Park have been donated to Red Panda conservation, the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) Forest Guardian Project which employs forest guardians to protect Red Pandas in Chintapu Community Forest at Maimajhuwa VDC in Nepal.
"Fota Wildlife Park were delighted to be chosen as the location for Kodaline’s new music video," said head ranger, Willie Duffy, who was cast as Roland’s boss in the video.
"We are a non-profit organisation whose mission is to educate, foster research and promote conservation and the location fees raised during this production allowed us to give additional support to the Forest Guardian Project in Nepal.
"The Forest Guardians are key to the future of the red panda: they work within their respective communities to create a Community Forest Network, they monitor and protect red panda habitats as well as educating their communities.
"The monies raised through filming ‘Ready to Change’ will go towards employing and training Forest Guardians which helps empower the local people to protect their forests and also financially supports the families there."
Irish quartet Kodaline have been hugely successful since their formation.
The band's debut album, 'In A Perfect World' has sold over a million copies worldwide and their tracks have streaming figures well into the 100s of millions.
The ‘I wouldn’t Be’ EP is released ahead of their new album due in early 2018.
