All I will say on the subject of my 2 dirham visit with free parking is that I'm grateful most of the animals have already been relocated to the new Safari Park with the rest to follow. However I am a little sad that animals are already being brought in from their natural habitats to fill the new Safari Park.
With the internet, apart from breeding and conservation programmes I really don't feel there's a need for Zoo's in this day and age other than for revenue and entertaining families. Also having lived in South Africa for 4 years and having camped on several occasions at Kruger National Park, I can safely say this is the last time I will be visiting a zoo and I will definitely NOT be visiting Dubai Safari when it opens.
I leave you with a couple of photo's from my visit and you can make up your own mind as to whether we need zoo's and safari parks in this day and age.
Please read this link about how and why Dubai Zoo was set up. All the animals were either confiscated by customs, including 2 Gorillas, or donated by residents who were keeping them in their homes. Yes people really do keep Lions in their homes in Dubai and they often escape.
