AED150m Dubai Safari nears completion after decade of development
Plans to replace Dubai’s outdated zoo – which was first built in 1967 – are nearing completion with Dubai Municipality releasing new footage of the under-development Dubai Safari, set to open later this year.
The plans have been on the cards for more than a decade, going back as far as 2005. During that timeframe, the project has been scrutinised, reworked and revised for a method of relocating around 1,000 animals from their existing habitats. Plans were drawn up in 2005 and then again in 2007, but collapsed in the wake of the global recession. Work finally started at the third time of asking, with development getting underway in September 2012.
The 120 hectare (296.5 acre) development in Dubai’s Al Warqaa district will be divided into three different sectors – African, Asian and Arabian – and will also include an open safari themed around different world locations with architecture to match.
“The new Dubai Safari 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," said Hussain Nasser Lootah, director general of Dubai Municipality.
Financed by the Dubai Municipality, the AED150m (US$40.8m, €37.6m, £28.3m) project will eventually include a zoo, safari, butterfly park, botanical garden, hotel and golf course, in addition to educational, conservation and veterinary facilities.
Dubai Municipality has designed the park to be energy-efficient and is incorporating solar power, water recycling, waste disposal and other recycling facilities into the build.
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