If something takes more than a decade to get completed in Dubai, you know it's going to be nothing short of extraordinary. The much anticipated Safari Park, which is located in Al Warqa, opposite Dragon Mart, is nearing completion and will be opened "within months".
The park is spread over 119 hectares (nearly 1.2 square kilometres)— which is actually twice the size of the Vatican City —out of which 80 hectares are dedicated for the villages representing different regions of the world and 35 hectares for the Open Safari village, reports Gulf News.
The safari which replaces the existing zoo in Jumeirah, has been built on a former construction waste landfill that was reclaimed and leveled to provide a suitable site for all the rare animals that will be housed in the park. It is also split into sections, including the Arabian village, Asian village, African village and eventually an Americas and Australia exhibit as well as a Children's park.
Khalid Al Suwaidi, director of the municipality's leisure facilities department said in a statement, "the movement of visitors will be through electric vehicles. There are many special elements of suspense and excitement as well as opportunity to closely interact with the animals," he added.
It is also said that electric cars, buses and a train will transport tourists between the different sections of the park.
As far as animals are concerned, you can expect to see lions, bears, monkeys, bats, elephants, cheetahs, tigers and much, much more.