Unspecified/General

In the Mushrif neighbourhood about 30 minutes drive south-east of central Dubai, Dubai Crocodile Park is the first dedicated crocodile-themed wildlife park in the United Arab Emirates and one of the largest crocodilian-focused zoological facilities in the broader Middle East. The 20,000-square-metre park opened in May 2023 as a joint venture between Dubai Municipality and the celebrated South African Crocoworld Conservation Centre, providing the broader Dubai region with a major dedicated crocodilian conservation, research and public-education facility. The park houses a permanent resident population of approximately 250 individual crocodilians representing several distinct species. The principal collection is the resident population of more than 200 Nile crocodiles (the largest of the African crocodile species, with mature adults reaching lengths of 5 to 6 metres and weights of up to 750 kilograms), with the breeding population housed across several carefully designed naturalistic enclosures. The collection also includes several smaller resident populations of Cuban crocodiles, dwarf crocodiles and several individual alligators. The park's principal enclosure is the dramatic 8,000-square-metre Crocodile Lagoon, a substantial saltwater-and-freshwater hybrid wetland environment that recreates the Nile-River floodplain habitat of the resident Nile crocodile population. The lagoon includes multiple basking islands, sandy banks, deep-water pools (the lower limit of the lagoon reaches 3 metres in depth) and extensive mature wetland vegetation. The resident population includes both fully grown adults and several breeding females with active nests, providing visitors with rare opportunities to observe the full crocodile life cycle in a single setting. A dramatic underwater viewing tunnel passes beneath the lagoon at a depth of 2 metres, providing dramatic underwater views of the crocodiles in their natural water-based behaviours including the dramatic stealth-and-ambush feeding behaviours that have made the Nile crocodile one of the most successful aquatic predators on Earth. The park also includes several smaller specialised enclosures covering crocodile reproduction and early development, an educational museum gallery covering the broader biology and ecology of crocodilians and a small interactive area where visitors can hold small (carefully supervised) baby crocodiles under the guidance of trained handlers. The park operates daily with extended weekend evening hours.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: Mushrif, Mushrif Park area, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Telephone: 04-322-7777

Website: dubaicrocodilepark.com

Opening Date: 19/05/2023