Just when animal lovers breathed a collective sigh of relief with the long-awaited announcement of the relocation of Dubai Zoo, the project has hit yet another snag. The zoo has lost the land allocated to them in the Dubailand project.
"In late June or early July we were told that the zoo will no longer be part of Dubailand," says Dr Abdul Hadi Siddiq Pasha, Head of the Architectural Unit of the Project Design Section at Dubai Municipality's General Projects Department.
"Sadly that means that all the planning and studying that went into the final design will have to be scrapped and redone," says Pasha.
Moved more times than a Bedouin's tent, the project is rumoured to have been hanging in limbo for almost two decades. "This project has been pending for as long as I can remember," says Pasha.
"First it was supposed to be Mushrif Park, then it was to be the extension of Mushrif Park, finally we were given a plot in Dubailand and we all thought this was it."
Pasha went on to say that they had already begun setting up a scaffolding fence, which was to be a giant intricately designed billboard, when they were told to relocate.
"At the moment details on this project are very vague," says engineer Abdullah Ahmad Al Najjar, Head of Projects Construction Section.
"Anything can change any day now, it could even be done away with altogether."
Though he wouldn't specify, Al Najjar did say that they were currently looking at a possible location, "The new location we are contemplating is ecologically better and can be more animal-friendly than the previous location [in Dubailand]."
Earlier, Rashad Bukhash, Director of the General Projects Department at Dubai Municipality had announced: "Construction of a huge new zoo will start in August."
At the time he said all the animals at the existing Dubai Zoo in Jumeirah would be moved by the end of this year to the new and much bigger zoo being built in Dubailand.
"We have to speed up plans for the construction of the new zoo and the core zoo will be built within three months after construction starts in August," he had said.
The Dubailand location was reported to have been 350 hectares. The zoo was planned to be built in stages and fully completed by early 2009.
*Should Dubai have a zoo? Vote in our poll.
Big Collection
Set up in the mid-1960s by Otto J. Bullard, an Austrian engineer working in Dubai, Dubai Zoo boasts of a few unique traits.
It's the oldest of its kind on the Arabian Peninsula, the first Arabian zoo to breed the chimpanzee and the Arabian wild cat and has an impressive collection of endangered species, including Bengal and Siberian Tigers, Arabian Wolves and Scimitar-horned Oryx.
Though it has been the subject of much vitriol on the internet with numerous online petitions asking for something to be done about the conditions, the current zoo conditions are the best they can be with such limited resources.
Between 1998 and 1999 it reached its worst point – the zoo had about 1,800 animals and was struggling for space for them all.
The current size of the zoo is five acres, of which about three acres are for the animals and the rest for logistics and offices. The zoo currently houses approximately 230 animal species.
Your comments
Yet again the plans for the Zoo are scuppered! This has gone on for 22 years - promises, promises, plans, more promises, more plans. How many animals have died and suffered in that awful place? GET ON WITH IT!!!! If Dubai MUST have a Zoo it should be the BEST with well-designed enclosures, qualified and knowledgable animal keepers and an education centre which could provide invaluable resources for learning for all ages. Dubailand was NOT the ideal place for a zoo or safari park (call it what you will) but now where will it go? It cannot remain as it is - cramped and concrete - but somewhere suitable must be found SOON. Dubai Zoo has become an embarrassment to this glamorous city.
Anonymous, UAE - Dubai
Posted: August 30, 2007, 18:35
Dubailand was not a suitable relocation for the zoo in the first place and the area of land allocated was much too small. How many more years do these animals have to suffer - they live in conditions worse than third world zoos. It is a shame that this zoo is allowed to continue - rehome the animals and close it down!!
Jane, United Kingdom
Posted: August 29, 2007, 19:24
The only plus to relocating the animals to the new zoo would have been that hopefully they would have had a better habitat and living conditions. There is no excuse in modern society for keeping wild animals behind bars as some kind of entertainment for humans. Children can learn through the internet or many other modern ways of learning about other species here on earth without the lifetime incarceration of animals for human pleasure. Your children play games and go to school. Wild animals live in the jungle and hunt. Come on!!!
Trevor, United Kingdom
Posted: August 29, 2007, 17:54
It's just pure lack of will and intention. Come on guys, do a 'real good deed' and give these animals a better life!
Shanti, UAE - Dubai
Posted: August 27, 2007, 14:03
How come Dubai can build "the biggest" this, "the tallest" that in a matter of years and yet in over two decades they are unable to build a decent zoo? It’s a non-money-maker I suppose. Give the animals a break, CLOSE the zoo. Relocate the animals or put them down.
Anonymous, UAE - Dubai
Posted: August 27, 2007, 09:53
Not having a zoo in Dubai is just not acceptable. I wonder if the twenty something per cent of people who voted against a zoo in your poll have any children? The zoo can be a profitable business like Philadelphia Zoo. It would have complemented DubaiLand. Dubai should take a position and fund it as an extension of credit. The profit can then be used to pay back the loan used to build the zoo. Corporate events, birthday parties , plush toys and free days for Father’s Day, Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day, a hot air balloon ride to look at the zoo grounds and a feeding area display for tigers, with elephant and camel rides.
Abdul, USA
Posted: August 27, 2007, 04:14
The limited space at Dubai Zoo is not being used effectively. There is a serious lack of environmental enrichment. With a small amount of staff training and funding, the animals' boredom could easily be alleviated.
Marie, UAE - Dubai
Posted: August 26, 2007, 21:58
