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28 March 2024

Lions lead first batch of animals moving into Dubai Safari [Video]

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By Staff

As Dubai Municipality readies the inauguration of the majestic Dubai Safari, the first batch of animals have moved into their new home. On Tuesday, the civic body played a teaser on their social media platforms, urging residents to guess which animals were moving into their new home. Images and videos of the big boxes being transported to the Dubai Safari played on, until the big reveal late evening. Timothy Husband, technical director for Dubai Safari, in a video on their official instagram, said, “We received 9 lions, 4 bears, 9 monkeys and 10 bats from Korea.” Adding, “What we have done in the last 14 months is travel around the world, looking for animals at different zoos, finding the best genetics, so that Dubai Safari will have the best genetics possible of every type of animal available in zoos today.” In another video, Mohammed Ali Reza Khan, specialist wildlife and zoo management, said, “Dubai Safari will have five segments. First will be Arabia, then Asia, followed by the Safari segment, a huge wadi, and an African village.

According to the officials, the first batch of animals moved from Seoul Grand Park in Korea.

They added this is probably the best time to move the animals, before the temperatures soar. Although there are cooling systems in place, transporting animals in the heat isn’t advisable.

The Dh1 billion project, located at Al Warqa district, will cover a total area of 119 hectares.

The new zoo will be home to almost 10,500 animals from around the world, and out of those, there will be more than 350 species of rare and endangered animals.

The team has spent many hours going over the different stud books used by zoos around the world and then selecting the best from what is offered. The team personally viewed the animals that were going to be acquired, just to be sure they were right for the Dubai Safari.

The team turned down many animals in its quest to give Dubai the best possible collection. These animals once they all arrive will be cared for by professionals that Dubai Municipality has employed, coming from all corners of the world. Finding these staff has been almost as difficult as finding the animals.

Once they are all here in Dubai then the next step is to carefully manage the collection always being sure that only the best specimens in the collection breed.


This whole project once completed will indeed put Dubai on the map for those who will expect only the best from a zoo or safari park. The knowledge and ethical care for the animals will soon have Dubai Safari recognized as a world leader.