conditioned rocks and misting machines will all help to keep animals at the $272 million Dubai Safari Park cool when it opens to the public later on this year, the park's CEO has said. In an interview with 7Days newspaper, Tim Husband said that the 199-hectare facility, which has been built on top of a landfill site in Al Warqa'a, would be home to more than 5,000 animals brought in from zoos around the world, and from the existing Dubai Zoo in Jumeirah. "Dubai Safari is a better place for them because a lot of these animals are coming from Third World countries where the conditions aren't that great," Husband told the newspaper recently. "Even though it's a hot desert we're making sure that all their enclosures, exhibits and holding facilities are kept at a good safe temperature so these animals won't suffer at all. "All the cats – lions, cheetahs and tigers – have air-conditioned areas, even the hyenas have got it in some areas." The air-conditioning facilities will be powered by solar panels placed on canopies over the zoo's car park. Over the next few days, the new zoo will be welcoming a new batch of animals – none other than the endangered Asian elephant. Officials from Dubai Municipality confirmed that a herd of elephants will be making Safari Park their new home, adding to the growing number of animals that already include lions, bears and bats. "A team specializing in safari parks is currently coordinating with the various local authorities such as the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and Water, [in addition to] international animal organizations... to ensure that the animals are safely relocated to their new environment," said a municipality official. According to WWF, Asian elephants are the continent's largest terrestrial mammals. They can reach almost six-and-a-half meters in length and three meters at the shoulder, and can weigh as much as five ton.
