Mac Rating: 0.00 | Votes: | Date: 03/06/2026 16:02:00

In the Al Warqa 5 district of inland Dubai about 25 minutes south-east of central downtown along the broader Dubai-Al Ain road corridor, Dubai Safari Park is the largest dedicated wildlife park in the United Arab Emirates and one of the largest open-style safari parks in the broader Middle East. The 119-hectare park opened in December 2017 as the principal replacement for the historic Dubai Zoo (which had operated since 1967 in the central Jumeirah area), with the new much larger park providing substantially expanded enclosures and a much broader range of resident species. The park houses approximately 3,000 individual animals representing some 250 distinct species, drawn from across the broader Africa, Asia, Australia, North America and South America biogeographical regions. The collection includes more than 80 species of mammals, 50 species of reptiles, 60 species of birds and several substantial collections of fish, amphibians and invertebrates. The park is organised around four principal themed zones, each replicating the broader habitat of one major biogeographical region. The African Village zone covers the broader African savanna ecosystem with substantial herds of zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, several species of antelope, ostriches and the principal lion population. The Arabian Desert Safari zone covers the broader native Arabian Peninsula ecosystem with the rare native Arabian oryx, Arabian gazelles, sand gazelles, Arabian wolves and several species of native desert reptiles. The Asian Village zone covers the broader South-East Asian ecosystem with several substantial tiger enclosures, an Asian elephant herd, several species of small Asian primates, the celebrated Asian small-clawed otter colony and several species of small Asian wild cat. The Explorer Village zone serves as the principal central visitor amenity area, with multiple themed restaurants, the principal gift shops and the main visitor centre. The park's safari experience is delivered through a combination of self-guided walking paths, guided open-vehicle safari tours through the larger drive-through enclosures and several specialised in-depth animal-encounter programmes. The popular Safari Drive open-vehicle tour passes through the substantial African Savanna drive-through enclosure where giraffes and zebras frequently approach the vehicles for close interaction. The park is open daily during the cooler October-through-May season with reduced operating hours during the hotter summer months.