New Dubai Safari Park in final stages before opening

Due to open its doors early next year, the park, which is near Dragonmart, has its first animals in quarantine already, undergoing the necessary tests to ensure they are healthy and that they have not been taken from the wild.

Final preparations are under way at Dubai Safari Park. Victor Besa for The National

DUBAI // The doors at Dubai Safari Park will open early next year, allowing the public to enjoy a spectacle that has been more than a decade in the making.

Final preparations are under way and the park, which is near Dragonmart, has quarantined its first animals for tests to ensure they are in good health and were not taken from the wild.

Animals on site at the 119-hectare phase one of the park include lions, antelopes, elephants and creatures from Australasia.

Phase two will involve animals from the Americas.

The facility will also be home to rescue animals that cannot be returned to the wild.

Tim Husband, the park’s technical director, said that two of his priorities will be animal welfare and education.

“It will be a jewel in the Dubai crown and it will show the rest of the world that there are people here who care about wildlife,” Mr Husband said. “You won’t be able to see it all in one day.”

The park will have a hotel complex by 2020.

“On a bad day, we would expect no fewer than 7,000 people through the gate,” said Mr Husband, adding that the park will foster ties with schools.

“Our generation has ruined the Earth, but it’s the kids who will make the decisions of the future. If you can get one kid passionate about wildlife and making the right decisions, then great,” he said.

The park replaces the current Dubai Zoo. It will host a breeding programme at the conservation centre that aims to release animals into the wild each year.

Those will include cats such as the caracal, the Arabian tahr – a mountain goat – oryx and gazelles.

Dr Reza Khan has been working with the UAE’s wildlife since 1983. He said: “We want schools and universities to come here and use our labs and facilities. We’ll have all the expertise here.”

Dr Sameeh Abu Tarbash, head of the veterinary school at UAE University, said teaming up with the park and its experts could be of great benefit to pupils. “As long as they have facilities that are a good learning environment for students, it’s a great idea,” he said. “We have one or two courses that cover zoo animals and wildlife, so it would be good to have more facilities for practical training.”

UAE University has links with Al Ain Zoo, and Dr Tarbash said access to more expertise and species can only be beneficial.

“It’s good to have different locations and to have more exposure to these environments for the students,” he said.

The rescue centre will include moon bears from South Korea, which are farmed for medicine and their paws. Paw soup is a delicacy. Many bear farms are being closed for welfare reasons, and Mr Husband has taken on four cubs, which the park plans to raise together.

Learning about such animals will go hand in hand with being a visitor, he said.

“If you must have a white tiger in the collection then you must use it to educate about the plight of the tiger and not just use it as a crowd puller,” said Mr Husband.

“It is also useful if we teach that the white tiger is not a natural colour and it’s only because man has inbred them to achieve this colour and, because of this, the white tiger has many problems.”

As an animal lover, he said that while captivity was not ideal, it was often the last resort for some species.

“In my opinion, I’d like there to be no more zoos but there’s no wild left for the animals. So many animals are getting poached, the forests and oceans are getting ruined. What we’re doing is keeping populations alive,” Mr Husband said.