"The new zoo will be home to almost 1,000 animals from around the world, and out of those, there will be more than 350 species of rare and endangered animals" The eternal species or individual animals question. Articles about zoos always get those mixed up or use wording that allows for free interpretation. Assuming they mean both (1,000 individuals, 350 rare species [+common species]), there'll be very few individuals of each species and likely a lot of singles. I hope that won't be the case. Assuming they ment individuals in both (1,000 individuals, incl. 350 individuals belonging to rare species), it'll be decent numbers for a safari park that usually mostly keep mammals, but few compared to a normal zoo. If they ment species in both (1,000 species, incl. 350 rare species), it would be one of the mega-diverse zoos in the world. Not quite Berlin (boosted by its aquarium), but more than e.g. San Diego. Anyhow, 119 ha (492 acres) means they won't run out of space anytime soon. If they, as suggested by the article, have visited zoos in Singapore, Austria, Germany and San Diego (less happy about Indonesian zoos) that's certainly a good basis for making a good zoo. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out.
First batch of animals arrived : Lion leads first batch of animals moving into Dubai Safari [Video] - Emirates 24|7
Small up-date ( arrival of Lions ): Lions in Dubai: Safari set for completion by year-end [video] - Emirates 24|7
What about the management of the Safari Zoo: is the old Dubai Zoo management involved or part of this project or not? For now, there is very little concrete information on the animals the zoos is acquiring and from where (the original plan was to relocate all animals from the old Jumeirah Beach Dubai Zoo ...) What is happening there?!!
Why did they choose Asian Elephants (who originally come from moist, forested and well shadowed regions) instead of African Elephants? The later would fit much better.
The soft opening will begin in October. Safari park with pygmy hippos and cheetah racing track set to open in Dubai' | Daily Star
