I haven't written a zoo review before (therefore this might be substandard) and English is not my favorite subject as school, however I noticed the lack of media and information of Dubai safari park on zoochat, so I thought this might be of interest. Dubai safari park (DSP) is a new facility, that opened for the first time in late 2017, was closed for rennovation, and opened again in October 2020. It is a replacement for the poor and inadequate Dubai Zoo. The park itself is very large, built on a former landfill site I believe, and consists of six sections with lots of landscaping and gardens. It is in a good location, not too far from downtown Dubai, and uses a waste and water recycling system as well as solar panels to reduce its carbon footprint. It is quite remarkable how lush and vegetated the park and enclosures are considering it was build on pure desert. Upon entering, you drive through lush vegetation and reach the covered car park which has large solar panels. Not only do the panels act as shelter to prevent the cars from getting too hot, but they also contribute to the parks sustainable outlook. You enter a large glass building entrance with the gift shop - there are two small enclosures for guinea pigs and tortoises. The park is so large and sparse that there are stations where you catch a free train or air-conditioned bus (extra cost) to reach the villages. Otherwise, walking between villages takes around 10-15 minutes. In the centre of the park is Al Wadi which is some landscaped gardens. Music is played at each village and is unique to the particular region e.g. in the African village bongo drum-music is being played. Most outdoor viewing is covered with fans, or indoors with glass viewing and air conditioning. - Explorer's village Furthest from the entrance but probably the highlight for most visitors - you go in a minibus/Safari jeep vehicle and drive through a variety of exhibits. This is at an additional cost, where a combo ticket needs to be purchased (about £7 extra), but you will see a lot more animals this way. The minibuses seats around 15 people max, however due to COVID they were largely quite empty. This safari experience brings you a lot closer to the animals. Most exhibts have mock rock walls which gives a more natural appearance and there are thorny acacia bushes, palm trees etc. which are very effective at creating a more authentic ambience. At first you drive through the hippo enclosure, on a submerged road which makes you feel like you are in the hippo's lake. This idea is also replicated in the nile crocodile exhibit later on. You drive through a Hamadryas baboon exhibit which has large rock and log structures (around 70 baboons live here). This is followed by a mixed exhibit with springbok, kudu, giraffes, zebra, eland, impala, sable, african spoonbills and egyptian geese. Each exhibit is separated by two gates - when one opens you drive through, wait for it to close, then the other one opens. Following the large ungulate exhibit, you enter the African lions where 4 male lions live. They can look across to the ungulate exhibit, separated by a wet moat and a dry moat. After, there is a white rhino enclosure on one side of the road and cape buffalo on the other side. The rhino are separated from the large ungulate exhibit by a dry moat. Each exhibit has a wooden shelter and species specific amenities - the rhino have a mud bath for example. Next are the scimitar-horned oryx and addax with palm trees, sand and grass. Following this is the American bighorn sheep which have the smallest exhibit, consisting almost solely of mock rock. After, you enter the female nilgai, blackbuck and hog deer paddock. This is appropriate as they are all prey species for the bengal tigers which are in the next exhibit. There are four male bengal tigers which were all born at the park and are 2-3 years old. They have trees to climb, rockwork and a large pool with a waterfall. This is followed by the male nilgai, blackbuck and hog deer exhibit, also consisting of Arabian oryx. Next is the striped hyena, followed by spotted deer, sarus cranes and cheetahs. Surprisingly, all animals were very active except the striped hyena. In the minibus, you are accompanied by a guide who speaks Arabic in English. They do not partake in caring for the animals, so their knowledge on the animals is somewhat limited. A bird show was on after the safari, but I decided to go to the African Village next instead which is the largest after the Explorer's village. - African village The explorer's village can only be visited with the combo ticket (zoo + safari). This makes the African village the major attraction for those who have bought the zoo ticket only. This is explored solely on foot. The centre of the village has paths leading to different exhibits and consists of a restaurant and food outlets. In this centre is the reptile house which has many Arabian (Arabian horned viper, Afro-Asian sand snake, Arabian toads etc.), Asian, Australian and African species. Many enclosures are too small or are very plain. The reticualted python exhibit is about 0.5m by 1m and consists of only sand. The komodo dragon exhibit is in the middle, about 2m by 2m and about a 1/3 of this is a bond with tiny terrapins. There is temple-themed rockwork throughout. Enclosures in this village include: two flamingo exhibits, bongo, mixed sable, kudu and impala, white lion (consisting of a pair of lions), cheetah (with 5 cheetahs in the exhibit), spotted hyena, striped hyena, 2x ring-tailed lemur, chacma baboons, meerkat, black and white ruffed lemur, mixed pygmy hippo and vervet monkey, mixed lowland gorilla, grey crowned crane and lone male ostrich, African wild dog, chimpanzee and African elephant. The gorillas, chimpanzees, pygmy hippos, lions and cheetahs have both indoor and outdoor viewing. All exhibits have an African-themed shelter and are separated from the visitors mainly by dry and wet moats with electric fencing. In my opinion, all exhibits (except the elephant) are very good - lots of natural vegetation, grasses, trees etc. as well as logs and rock structures. I like how the primates have real trees to climb. Indoor viewing for some popular species is effective, particularly in the Dubai heat. The elephant enclosure has 4 wild-caught elephants from Zimbabwe and all are young - their exhibit has large rock boulders and a concrete pool (can be seen in the media). The "Grand aviary" is next to the African village. I did not have time to visit due to my parents' arrangements, but from what I have heard it is nothing special - cockatoos, lorikeets etc. Next, most people go to the Asian village, followed by the Arabian village, then kids farm and exit. - Asian Village First is the cassowary exhibit followed by the red-necked wallabies. These enclosures have more dense vegetation than the African village. The wallabies are in two enclosures which can be viewed indoors - one of them has a waterfall with glass viewing, perhaps they plan on having a more aquatic species such as small-clawed otters. Next is a species labelled 'gibbon' which is actually a siamang. There was a single specimen and the exhibit has branches, ropes and real trees to climb and consists of a few islands which were connected by moats. The last exhibit in this village is the Asiatic black bear which lives on its own. Unlike the usual bear 'pits' which seem to be omnipresent in Asia, this exhibit was grassy, vegetated and had wooden platforms as well as near-invisible electric fencing and a dry moat to separate it from the visitors. As you can tell, the Asian village does not have many species. - Arabian Desert Safari It is connected to the Arabian desert safari where you sit on a open-topped mini train that goes through a large Arabian exhibit with sand gazelles, Arabian gazelles, Arabian oryx, scimitar-horned oryx, ostrich (ostriches used to live in Arabia) and Addax. Information about the species is played on speakers along with Arabian music. I have seen sources mentioning the presence of Arabian wolves in the park, however they did not seem to be there. I do believe, however, that Dubai Safari Park underrepresents Arabian wildlife which is a shame. - Kids Farm Next is the Kids Farm with colourful barns and fencing for local Najdi sheep, guinea pigs, rabbits, pygmy goats, miniature donkeys and ponies, patagonian cavies and spur-thiged tortoises. There is an aviary here with a random collection of parakeets, argus pheasant, black-headed caique and a blue fronted amazon. You can feed the birds sunflower seeds here. Being a larger tourist destination, it is no surprise that the DSP is more expensive than Al Ain - Al Ain was only £6 entry ticket while the DSP is around £10/£17 depending on whether you purchase the combo ticket. Al Ain zoo represents Arabian wildlife better (Arabian leopard, Arabian tahr, Arabian sand cat, Arabian wolf, caracal etc. + Arabian species at DSP) as well as rarities (speke's gazelle, dama gazelle, African wolf) and you can see pretty much everything at Dubai Safari Park in Al Ain with plans for a reptile park, elephant safari and sand cat conservation centre in Al Ain. A major contrast between the DSP and a regular European zoo is the basic signage - there is less of an education and conservation mindset (at least this is what I felt). DSP has all the "ABCs" (elephants, rhinos, giraffes, lions, chimpanzees, gorillas, meerkats, crocodiles etc.), as does Al Ain. Perhaps in the future, DSP will have more rarities, but for now it mainly exhibits former Dubai Zoo inhabitants + some donated and imported species.
Very nice, good to hear a bit more about this park. You talk about them having Bengal tigers. What are your sources? I believe all pure Bengal tigers are in India. Although very extensive when it comes big african mammals, the collection is somewhat limited which is not surprising, it was built to attract tourists. I share your opinion about how underepresented Arabian wildlife is but in a way, Sharjah and Al Ain already have a very complete collection, maybe it was not worth trying to compete with them. Although not complete at all, ZTL lists Socotra cormorants and Dent's mona monkeys as present in the Safari park. They're huge rarities, I hope they still have some, would be a shame otherwise.
Thank you. Indeed, the focus on popular animals would be to attract tourists, I guess Dubai safari park would be appropriate for Arabian species as it recieves more visitors, thus educating tourists about lesser-known Arabian wildlife although, as you said, increasing competition among nearby collections. The guide in the safari jeep told us they were Bengal tigers, although they are likely not pure as you said. Many big cats in captivity in the UAE are ex-pets. Big cats and chimpanzees were relatively common until they were banned a few years ago (I believe in 2017). This meant many went to Al Ain (which has multiple big cat enclosures including at least 3 lion/white lion enclosures) and likely Dubai safari park. Socotra cormorants and Dent's mona monkeys were present in the former Dubai Zoo which I never visited. This means it would make sense that they are present at DSP. Socotra cormorants could be in the Grand Aviary that I did not visit, however this is not a major miss as I have seen wild socotra cormorants. In fact, you can see them wild in the Dubai marina and Ras Al Khor reserve in the city. I did not see the mona monkeys - it is not unlikely that they died and have been replaced by vervet monkeys in the pygmy hippo enclosure as I read the vervet monkeys arrived recently.
Thanks for the great review @animalszoo. I am also a tad surprised they do not have more Arabian fauna and are particularly low on education - a real must and would be great addition to the various coastal reserves around Dubai -.
The Safari Park will be closed from June to September to protect the animals for the high temperatures during the summer-period : Dubai Safari Park to close for the season on May 31
I was there last March and think the review is a fair appraisal..just a couple of points. The Socotra Cormorants( about a dozen) were in the cassowary enclosure when I went(must be clipped therefore). Chacma Baboons are also a great zoo rarity now outside of Africa. And although I dont like drive-through things I thought the Hamadryas Baboon exhibit was very good indeed...a kind of enclosed rocky bowl. One thing that did not come from the old Dubai Zoo (which still exists,totally abandoned,down at Jumeirah) were Houbara Bustards - this was the first zoo where I ever saw the taxon..although this tiny zoo was essentially very poor and not worthy of a wealthy state.
