Arabia's Wildlife Centre Arabia's wildlife centre

Chlidonias said:
it isn't worth going just to look at the animals and the facility?
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I'm sure it is but as I said in my original post it might be difficult to find the time. I'm only in town Thursday and Friday and my time on Thursday is already committed and on Friday the place is only open for 2 or 3 hours in the afternoon. If I could photograph the animals then I would make a big effort to get there but as I can't I'm less inclined. And to think I lived in Dubai for 13 years (99-12) and never knew the place existed?! :(
 
This could well be both cynical and incorrect, but being as the stated reason for the photography ban is - as I recall - to prevent aggression caused in the past by men being offended their wives were at risk of being inadvertently photographed, it may have helped Devilfish's case that being of Egyptian origin, he *might* have been deemed less offensive than another Western visitor would have been?

The real pity as far as you are concerned, Jackwow, is that this policy has only been in place for a handful of years - as such, had you been aware of the collection when living in Dubai the issue might not have even come up for the majority of your time there :(
 
Shirokuma said:
Sorry, to clarify I meant why is photography not allowed.
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I've answered your question in the post directly above - for ease of use I've quoted the relevant portion of the post below.

TeaLovingDave said:
the stated reason for the photography ban is - as I recall - to prevent aggression caused in the past by men being offended their wives were at risk of being inadvertently photographed
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Jackwow said:
What reason did you give them to be allowed? Wasn't it a bit odd, you being the only visitor taking pics, you must have got a few looks.
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Sorry, just saw this. I didn't give very good reasons but repeated that I desired to
Photograph the animals, given my interests. A phone call would have also helped but once I was there, they eventually permitted it.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
I've answered your question in the post directly above - for ease of use I've quoted the relevant portion of the post below.
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Good memory TLD. I think I posted a more detailed account of my experiences on one of the photos, perhaps one of the leopard on display?
As with others on the forum who were allowed to take photos, I was given a badge to wear.
 
devilfish said:
Excellent news but this is a different place. Al Bustan is a private zoo down the road from Arabia's Wildlife Centre (and the Desert Park/Breeding Centre complex). I'll try to dig up a fascinating recent Youtube clip.
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And for all the many, many species I would love to see at Arabia's Wildlife Centre, I would trade them all for a chance to get into Al Bustan to see their Marbled Cats :p
 
Bit of news that seem's to have been missed - Sharjah now houses Black Rhino, a male arrived from Zurich back in March
 
TeaLovingDave said:
And for all the many, many species I would love to see at Arabia's Wildlife Centre, I would trade them all for a chance to get into Al Bustan to see their Marbled Cats :p
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Me too!

As for Arabian leopard breeding program (mentioned earlier), the latest issue of IUCN Cat News has an opinion piece on the situation. A large percentage of genetically important individuals are in Yemen and are not connected to the official breeding program at places like Arabia Centre and Al Bustan. Recent strife in Yemen has caused a few Yemen specimens to starve to death and the opinion piece strongly urges the connecting of the Yemen individuals to the main captive breeding population.
 
I find it very funny that camera's are banned but cellphones are not sounds like going to concert that have same rule alot video's is on youtube
Al Ain zoo looks like not banned cameras
I try to email them but no reply yet
still not many that have arab cobra,Oman carpet Viper,Arab Leopard
 
devilfish said:
It's quite a long and heavy list so I've broken it down into sections, as well as a brief summary of each area:


On entering the centre and walking past the main desk, there’s a dark room with a big screen showing footage of endangered Arabian animals. After walking through the room, there’s a large reptile room, with a big enclosure for desert monitors in the centre and smaller tanks/vivaria for snakes, lizards, toads, fish and arthropods all around.

Animal list for reptile room:

Hardwicke’s rat snake
Black desert cobra (Walterinnesia sp.)
Blue-headed agama
Arabian cobra
Crowned leaf-nosed snake
Arabian sand boa
Steppe agama
Fringe-toed lizard
Spatulate-tailed rock gecko
Semaphore gecko
Carter’s semaphore gecko
Arabian toad-headed agama
Oman carpet viper
Arabian horned viper
Levantine viper
Wadi racer
Diadem snake
Sand snake
Saw-scaled viper
Malpolon moilensis
Brown house snake
Cat snake
Puff adder
Yellow-bellied house gecko
Ocellated skink
Sandfish
Banded-tail rock gecko
Large-headed ground gecko
Button-scaled ground gecko
Large-scaled gecko
Fan-toed gecko
Dhofar toad
Arabian toad
[Arabian] green toad
Caspian terrapin
Garra smarti
Azraq killifish
Arabian killifish
Dunsire’s cave fish
Jordanian logsucker
Cyprinion microphthalmus muscatensis
Carasobarbus apoensis
Cyprinion acinaces acinaces
Veiled chameleon
Grey monitor
Jewel beetle
Praying mantis (Mantodea mantodea)
Assorted grasshopper species
Water scorpion
Black bush cricket
Jayakar’s lizard
Ground beetles
Assorted scorpions



The second main area is a large indoor aviary for native birds and Arabian hares. It is very well-themed with large boulders, waterfalls and a flamingo pool. One darkened side room houses skittering frogs, and another (a cave) houses Egyptian fruit bats and Omani blind cave fish. Glass windows near the far end of the aviary look into indoor enclosures for Schmidtz’s caracal, Indian grey mongoose and sand cats.

Animal list for this area:

Skittering frog
Arabian hare
Egyptian fruit bat
Blind cave fish
Omani blind cave fish
Grey francolin
Philby’s partridge
Stone curlew
Chestnut-bellied sandgrouse
Red-vented bulbul
Ruppell’s weaver
Lesser flamingo
Macqueen’s [houbara] bustard
Schmidtz’s caracal
Indian grey mongoose
Sand cat
Laughing dove
Tristram’s grackle
Red-wattled plover
Bruce’s green pigeon
Black-winged stilt
Indian silverbill
White-cheeked bulbul
[Juvenile] Eurasian oystercatcher
[Black-tailed?] Godwit
Common redshank
Dusky turtle dove



The next section is a series of nocturnal exhibits. The enclosures are spread over two main rooms, the first for carnivorous and insectivorous mammals (and porcupines) and the second for small rodents. Just before leaving this area there’s an enclosure for desert eagle owls. The enclosures here, as elsewhere, are extremely well done, and are excellent displays of the animals within.

Animal list for this area:

Gordon’s wildcat
White-tailed mongoose
Small-spotted genet
Arabian red fox
Ruppell’s fox
Golden jackal
Blanford’s fox
Honey badger
Indian crested porcupine
Ethiopian hedgehog
Long-eared hedgehog
Brandt’s hedgehog
[Arabian?] spiny mouse
House mouse
Turkish spiny mouse
Egyptian spiny mouse
Golden spiny mouse
Wagner’s gerbil
Cheesman’s gerbil
Arabian jird
Fat sand rat
Lesser Egyptian jerboa
Desert eagle owl
Libyan jird
Fat-tailed gerbil
Large Aden gerbil
Sundevall’s jird
Nile rat
Black rat



Next is the restaurant, in a circular pavilion with glass windows all around which look out onto a brilliant, large enclosure for ungulates, hyrax and a few birds. A great place to sit down and relax for a while.

Animal list for restaurant enclosure:

Greater flamingo
Pink-backed pelican
Nubian ibex
Rock hyrax
Arabian oryx
Ostrich
Sand gazelle



And the final section is a series of carnivore/ baboon enclosures with a massive area for gazelles to roam in the background.

Animals on display here are:

Arabian mountain gazelle
Hamadryas baboon
Arabian wolf
Striped hyena
Arabian leopard
Cheetah



EDIT: Just thought I'd include a link to the official web page and a brief statement on each of the four photos they've published to help visualise: http://www.breedingcentresharjah.com/Wildlife Centre.html

The first photo shows a viewing area for one of the carnivore enclosures. The second shows a very small section of the large walkthrough aviary. The third photo shows one of the side-bays in the reptile room for snake or lizard enclosures. The fourth is a view from the rocky cliffs for hyrax & ibex in the restaurant enclosure; the restaurant is the round building with a blue roof.
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I visited the collection a few days ago and it is interesting to see that the species list has not changed much in 9 years. The blind cave fish, Arabian hares and Jackal are absent. The mongoose exhibit between caracal and sand cat enclosures was under rennovation and was labelled 'striped mongoose' which I am guessing refers to banded mongoose (which they would have replaced the Indian grey mongoose with).

The collection is still fantastic and the amount of Arabian wildlife is phemonenal. It is a shame it is not well known or frequently visited. With the new Dubai safari park and proposed Sharjah safari park with larger, generic species, Arabia's Wildlife Centre will likely become less popular.
 
animalszoos said:
I visited the collection a few days ago and it is interesting to see that the species list has not changed much in 9 years. The blind cave fish, Arabian hares and Jackal are absent. The mongoose exhibit between caracal and sand cat enclosures was under rennovation and was labelled 'striped mongoose' which I am guessing refers to banded mongoose (which they would have replaced the Indian grey mongoose with).

The collection is still fantastic and the amount of Arabian wildlife is phemonenal. It is a shame it is not well known or frequently visited. With the new Dubai safari park and proposed Sharjah safari park with larger, generic species, Arabia's Wildlife Centre will likely become less popular.
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Did you manage to see any of the eight Sandgrouse species they keep?
 
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