Al Ain Zoo organises 1st Conservation Partnership Day

For its first ever Conservation Partnership Day, Al Ain Zoo has presented its experiments and initiatives to protect endangered species around the world.

Held at the Sheikh Zayed Desert Learning Centre theatre, the event showcased a number of significant results, most prominent of which was Al Ain Zoo’s partnership with Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in the Republic of Kenya, in addition to the efforts of other partners, including the Sahara Conservation Fund, Emirates’ Environmental Working Group, EWG, and the Emirates-Wildlife Society in association with World Wildlife Fund, EWS-WWF.

The presentation included an 'employee exchange' experiment between Al Ain Zoo and Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, to oversee and study four animal groups: elephants, ungulates, lions and black and white rhinoceroses. The experiment is part of a series of partnerships between both parties ongoing since 2013, starting with an agreement which entails offering support, carrying out field research, monitoring animals and providing medical care and security for animals in their natural habitats.

A representative from the Sahara Conservation Fund presented their results from their project in the Republics of Chad and Niger. The research findings say that eagles are under an increased risk of extinction, and have already started going extinct due to over hunting for various reasons. In addition, the Dama Gazelle numbers are hard to define due to the natives’ different explanations of its life-patterns. The Addax population in Chad and Niger does not exceed sixty.

The EEG presented some successful statistics regarding their work in the field of Resource Management and Waste Disposal, declaring that waste decreased by over 6 million kg between 2009 and 2015 on a national level.

Al Ain Zoo contributed to the ‘One Root, One Communi-tree 2017’ campaign with more than 3,000 kg of paper waste. The campaign was launched by the EWG with the aim of involving institutions in the waste paper collection process. Due to its excellent efforts, Al Ain Zoo qualified to plant two trees in its name at an annual tree-planting initiative taking place next December.

The EWS-WWF presented its research on UAE and Al Hajar Mountains bats. With about 1,240 species, bats are the second most diverse rodents in terms of species worldwide. According to recent studies, their population amounted to 66 bats in the Arab World, 19 in Al Hajar Mountains and 9 in the UAE.