Dubai Zoo in Dubai

Dubai Zoo (Arabic: ‎حديقة حيوان دبي) was originally built in 1967 by a Dubai resident when H. H. Sheikh Rashid bin Maktoum, the late Ruler of Dubai, permitted Otto J. Bulart to build a zoo on a two hectare plot in Jumeirah. It is still the oldest zoo in the Arabian Peninsula. It was considered a Dubai landmark in the late 1960s as it indicated the "town's end".

In 1971 the management of the Dubai Zoo was taken over by the Dubai Municipality. During the first couple of years of its existence, the Dubai Zoo housed only a few animals like the big cats, monkeys and hoofed-animals.

There was also a small aquarium with some fishes and reptiles. From May 1986 to May 1989, a part of the Zoo was redesigned and rebuilt. From June 1989 to the present there has been constant re-designing and renovation. Dubai zoo is the first Arabian zoo to breed the rare Chimpanzee and the Arabian or Gordon's wildcat (Felis silvestris gordoni).

In recent years, the Dubai Zoo has come under fire for the conditions in which its animals are housed. Animal rights activists and even hotels and tourist websites encourage the boycotting of the facility. Cages in which the animals are trapped in are reportedly so small that the animals can barely move.

Animals

The zoo houses approximately 230 animal species. among these are around 248 mammal specimens, including foxes, hyenas, pumas, lions, jaguars, chimpanzees, baboons, monkeys, deer, bears, porcupines, giraffes and Barbary sheep.

 Endangered species include Socotra shag or cormorant, Bengal tiger, gorilla, subspecies of grey wolf and Arabian wolf, Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), and the indigenous Gordon's wildcat. Bird include ostrich, golden eagle and parrots. Reptiles are represented by around 400 specimens.

Visitation and opening hours

Dubai Zoo attracts annually a large number of visitors. In 2008 the number of visitors was 336,346.

Opening hours during summer are 10 am to 6 pm, and 10 am to 5:30 pm during winter.

New Dubai Zoo

Dubai Municipality has planned to build a new Zoo for a number of years. Media reports since at least 2003 stated that the planning for a new zoo was under way.

Construction would be completed by 2008 and would be sited variously at Mushrif Park or Dubailand at an estimated cost of USD 55.6 million or AED 610 million. The project was expected to be completed in 2008.In February 2009, it was announced that the zoo project at Dubailand was on indefinite hold.

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