No room to swing a cat

Dubai: While Dubai has gone through massive changes over the years from huge shopping malls to the world's tallest buildings, animals at the oldest zoo in the Arabian Peninsula are still waiting to relocate to a bigger and proper place.

Animals at the Dubai Zoo, which was was originally built in 1967 by a Dubai resident in Jumeirah on two hectare plot, are still suffering. It became a landmark as it indicated the "town's end" at the time.

A zoo relocation plan has been announced at least three times during the last seven years but it never materialised.

Although Dubai Municipality officials now claim that animals will be moved to a new super-zoo in Dubailand, mystery still shrouds the new plans, with construction on the new site being postponed a couple of times. The plan is still awaiting final approval.

The zoo was taken over by Dubai Municipality in 1971 and was redesigned in 1986 and 1989 but no move was made to move the animals to a bigger place.

Giraffe's view

There are more than 1,100 animals in the zoo and the space for them is so small that a giraffe can keep watch on the movement of all the animals and visitors to the zoo.

An ambitious plan to shift the zoo to a new location in Mushrif Park was abandoned in 2003.

In November 2005, the civic body announced plans to build a Dh200 million zoo at a new location next to the Mushrif Park which was supposed to be completed in 2008 but that plan was again shelved.

Animals are waiting, but their numbers are increasing.

There has also been a phenomenal growth in the number of zoo visitors over the last few years.

In 2004, 779,000 people visited the zoo while around 800,000 people visited the zoo during the first eight months of 2005.

According to a Dubai Municipality official, the plan to relocate animals from the existing to zoo to a new bigger zoo at Dubailand is still on cards. "The civic body is building the zoo in cooperation with Dubailand on an area of 350 hectares," he added.

He said that private investors are also being invited to invest in various projects such as restaurants in the zoo. "We are implementing the best practices in the world," he said.

Chalets for visitors to stay in the zoo overnight are also planned. But the civic authority is still waiting for the final word from the authorities concerned to go ahead with their construction plan.

Tight fit: Animal farm

• About 160 species are housed in the zoo. The total number of animals exceeds 1,100.
• They are increasing every month and they are sharing a total area of around 20,000 square metres, including offices and the visitors' centre.
• The space also includes walkways and sitting areas.