Save Dubai Zoo

Save Dubai Zoo

I have been visiting Dubai Zoo in a professional capacity for just a little short of forty years. By no stretch of the imagination could it be classed as a Good Zoo but at the same time it is not to be termed a Dysfunctional Zoo. Dubai Zoo has a History and once one gets an understanding of this one tends to be more forgiving of its faults.

In just a few short months the animals will be moving out of the Zoo and over to the new Dubai Safari. Will anyone be sorry about the zoos closure? I will for one and so too will the thousands of people who visit Dubai Zoo each year.

The location of Dubai Zoo is key to its popularity. Each week hundreds of people in the Jumeirah area of Dubai will visit the zoo. Dominant among these are the housemaids, families and nannies in charge of children. Some of them visit every week. Dubai Zoo is the longest established garden in this area of Dubai. The mature trees offer a shady oasis, an escape from the heat and the opportunity to relax and meet with friends. These people will not visit the Dubai Safari as it is too far away by bus or by taxi.

I am not suggesting that Dubai Zoo should remain as it is. It should, it must change. It should be re-invented as bird garden. There is the space there to make one of the best of bird gardens. Let it stay, lets make it somewhere special to conserve, to educate, to relax.