An aerial view of the Dubai Safari Park.

Dubai Municipality on Monday announced that the Dubai Safari Park will welcome visitors starting from Oct.5, 2020, with a wide range of new interactive, educational and entertainment experiences for visitors of all ages.

The opening follows the completion of a comprehensive renovation and development process aimed at expanding the facilities of the Park and further enriching the visitor experience. The revamped Dubai Safari adds new value to the emirate’s offerings as a leading global tourist hub.

Dubai Safari Park is open to the public daily from 9:00am to 5:00pm, and online reservation is required for entry.

Dawoud Al Hajri, Director General of Dubai Municipality, said: “The Dubai Safari Park contributes to the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make the emirate the world’s most preferred lifestyle, leisure and tourist destination. Dubai Municipality continues to introduce new initiatives to support His Highness’s objective of creating a happiness-centred model of development.”

Enhanced visitor experience

Spanning 119 hectares of immaculately landscaped spaces that provide hospitable animal habitats, the Dubai Safari Park houses an expanded community of 3,000 mammals, birds, amphibians and invertebrates. The redesigned facility has many improvements to enhance guests' access to its various sites.

 A lion in relaxed mood seen at Dubai Safari Park.

“As the momentum of recovery in the tourism market gathers pace, Dubai Safari provides an exciting attraction for both international visitors and residents. The redesigned Dubai Safari has many unique interactive programmes blended into the safari journey that provide visitors a unique and memorable experience. Not only can they see different types of animals from across the world, they can also enjoy activities, performances and shows that entertain as well as educate,” Al Hajiri said.

New activities such as animal feeding, educational and awareness programmes and seasonal events have been added to enrich the visitor experience. The activities have been designed to increase visitors’ awareness and provide opportunities for interaction with animals.

Rare animals

Serving both as an animal reserve and educational centre, the new Dubai Safari features a group of new animals, including African elephants and giraffes. Rare animals at the Park include the Komodo dragon, Spiral-horned antelope, Arabian Oryx, coloured African wild dog, gorilla, gibbon, bongo, and lemur. Visitors can transport themselves around the Park on state-of-the-art air-conditioned trains.

The Park comprises three main villages, the African Village, Asian Village and Explorer Village, and also includes an Arabian Desert Safari tour.

The African Village, a walking arena that includes animals from Africa, gives visitors a true glimpse of the vast continent and  an opportunity to see some of the largest and smallest land mammals in the world, ranging from the African elephant to the Meerkat. In addition, the Bird House and Reptile House in the Village houses more than 30 different species of reptiles.

 Pelicans seen a Dubai Safari Park.

The Asian Village, designed in an ornate architectural style, embodies the cultural diversity of the continent that is home to diverse wildlife. The ‘Amazing Creatures of the World’ show in the Village enables guests to see a variety of animals as they display their natural behaviors.

The Park’s Explorer Village allows guests to see animals from all over the world ranging from giraffes to hippos. A unique Bird Show held at the Village displays the splendour of colorful birds and teaches visitors about the intricacies of the winged creatures.

Another unique experience offered is the Arabian Desert Safari that allows visitors to undertake a trip in an open vehicle to see many species of animals from the Arabian Peninsula. The Tour includes an audio guide that tells visitors about the most famous animals in the local desert and current animal conservation programmes.

A unique bus tour in the Explorer Village gives visitors a chance to discover animals from Africa and Asia. The tour journeys through the African grasslands and encounters ungulate animals of all shapes and sizes, from giraffes to antelopes and zebras. Guests can watch crocodiles, buffalos, lions, tigers, hippos, rhinoceroses, zebras, baboons, antelopes, hyenas, and giraffes. Visitors have an opportunity to watch these animals resting on the Park’s specially cooled rocks.

Globally benchmarked animal welfare practices

Dubai Safari Park offers a wide range of animal welfare and conservation strategies to provide a better life for the animals, apart from hosting educational and research projects that support the goal of establishing the Park. The Park contributes to the conservation of endangered species with breeding programs and rescue missions around the world.

Veterinary and animal care units of the Dubai Safari Park’s dedicated Life and Science teams provide animals with the best care in line with global animal welfare standards. The Park’s full-fledged enrichment team supports its Animal Care unit in taking care of the animals’ welfare and training. Dubai Safari also follows internationally benchmarked protocols for protected animal contact to ensure the safety of the animals and staff.

Eco-friendly Safari Park

The Park has adopted sustainable and eco-friendly technologies and practices. Originally built on a landfill site, Dubai Safari Park has transformed the land into a reusable space, using advanced technology. Energy harnessed from solar panels is used to power the park’s buildings and its electric vehicles.

With the goal of becoming a completely zero-waste facility, Dubai Safari Park has distributed recycling waste bins across the grounds for visitors to use. An onsite reverse osmosis plant that filters and recycles water for animal water bodies, repurposes food and animal waste into organic compost, which is used as fertiliser across the park.

Comprehensive precautionary measures have been implemented in the Dubai Safari facility to ensure a safe environment for visitors. A thermal camera has been installed and manual thermometers will be used to screen  visitors. Social distancing of two metres between people is strictly enforced with stickers placed on the floors to guide visitors. Vending machines in the Park sell masks and gloves while hand sanitisers are provided to everyone.