Al Bustan Zoological Center is a zoo for endangered species in Sharjah

Gulf News

Al Bustan Zoological Center is a 17-hectare privately owned zoo, located in Maleha, Sharjah that houses 856 animals of 101 species from all over the world. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv

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00:00Al-Bustan Zoological Centre based in Sharjah is a 17 hectare private zoo.

00:11We have just over a hundred different species and just over 800 animals.

00:17It is a private collection.

00:19We are affiliated with the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums and of course the Southeast

00:24Asian Zoos and Association.

00:26About 90% of them are critically endangered.

00:29We have a zero financial value on animals.

00:33We are part of the International Animal Exchange so they are either on SSPs or Species Survival

00:40Program.

00:41We do do breeding for conservation.

00:43Most of our critically endangered species are on stud books so we are involved in the

00:50breeding for conservation.

00:52In the cat section we are the third biggest cheetah breeding centre in the world, obviously

00:58the biggest in the Middle East then.

00:59We have just over 50 cheetahs at the moment.

01:02We have the only captive population of the marbled cat in the entire world so we are

01:06very excited about that.

01:11We only have one pygmy marmoset in captivity at the moment unfortunately.

01:16We are looking to bring in a girlfriend for him so we can start with the breeding program

01:21of the pygmy marmosets.

01:25Cape buffalo, we have two males and four females at the moment.

01:31They are obviously one of the most dangerous animals on the farm but they are really big.

01:37They get to about 800 kilograms, our big male.

01:40They cannot be tamed even if you hand rear them and because they are so big they are

01:44very dangerous.

01:45I can't explain why, their attitude.

01:48Two white lions, a male and a female, we imported them from South Africa.

01:52They are still quite young, I think they are about three or four years old.

01:56They are breeding at the moment.

01:58She has had a litter before that we had to hand raise unfortunately because it was her

02:03first litter and she didn't mother them very well so we hand reared them.

02:08We also house the critically endangered Arabian leopard.

02:18The okapi we have a male and a female.

02:20The male turns 14 this year, the female turns 4.

02:24She is still very young, she is still growing.

02:27We have started introducing them.

02:29You can't keep them together because the male does get a bit aggressive especially during

02:33mating time.

02:34We are hopeful, we will be importing another two in September.

02:38They come from America so we are really excited about that and we are going to hopefully have

02:42some okapi babies soon.

02:44Animals that we do house, we do try and take care of their specific needs like the Indian

02:49rhino.

02:50They are very sensitive.

02:51Obviously if you have got two tons standing on your feet you do get a little bit of foot

02:55problems.

02:56So all their flooring are padded, we have got swimming pools and mud wallows for them

03:02to help them adapt to this specific environment.

03:08These small little ones, we have two islands here.

03:10There are the ring-tailed lemurs that look like King Julian on Banagasca and then next

03:15to them on the other island we have the black and white ruffed lemurs.

03:19They are really nice animals.

03:22They love playing.

03:23We have put some enrichment items up for them, swings and bridges and climbing things so

03:29that they can play.

03:30Avery, they get lots of exercise flying up and down.

03:40We haven't had any breeding success there yet.

03:43The hyacinth macaws have just laid eggs which we are really excited about and we will see

03:48what happens.

03:49Most of the species there are from either Australia or from the Amazon so it is a beautiful

03:55place to go and sit and reflect.

03:57Two of the ostriches in the giraffe section, they are from Somalia.

04:03They are the red-necked ostrich so that is where they are from endemically.

04:09I think they have ADD or ADHD, they are very attention, they love to interact with people

04:18especially shoelaces and stuff so just be careful when you walk past there.

04:23Our management areas, the kitchen, the meat room, we prepare food every morning for them.

04:29All food is fresh, it is kept refrigerated, they get fed at least twice a day for most

04:36of the species.

04:37So yeah, we take good care of them.

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