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“Reading took me to multiple lives...”

Mariam Al Ahbabi

Our new short story... “Visitor from the Northern Part of the Globe”

A free space for the wonders of light and lens, that we leave up to the visitors’ and webpage surfers’ creativity. Share your picture with us, and let it speak for you.

Please send the photographs to zoolife@alainzoo.ae

Undoubtedly, our visitor could not resist the natural colors of the redeared turtle reflected on the clean water. She knows about the presence of admirers, and she stretches her neck in a flamboyant gesture while our visitor tries to catch the wry look in her eyes.

By: Manny Fajutag

UPCOMING EVENTS 2019

Abu Dhabi

UNTIL 01 JUNE

Zimoun Exhibition

New York University

08 JUNE

Artists and the Cultural Foundation: The Early Years Cultural Foundation

UNTIL 30 JUNE

Louvre Abu Dhabi: Animals, Between Real and Imaginary Exhibition

Louvre Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Island

03 - 05 JUNE

Eid Al-Fitr

Al Ain Zoo

Ahlan Special Service

Al Ain Zoo has several teams on hand to help visitors, one of which is the Ahlan team, which carries out a variety of tasks, the most important of which is to ensure the readiness of golf carts and the Ahlan Majlis in terms of cleanliness and charging the golf cart battery.

The Ahlan team also checks the availability of reservations in the system as well as contacting visitors to book their date of arrival in order to appoint employee team member to provide a service for them. In the absence of advance

bookings, staff members promote the service through the VIP ticket office.

Ahlan staff members receive visitors at the Ahlan Majlis and take them on a tour around the zoo for an hour and a half, including four main stations:

First station: feeding the giraffes, the hippo and the crocodile exhibit

Second station: reptile house

Third station: Bird House and

Children’s Zoo

Final stop: the Big Cat Oasis.

During the tour, the team provides a full explanation and interesting information about all the animals the visitors have seen.

At the end of the day, the employees return the golf carts to their assigned place, and then submit a daily report regarding the day’s tour and how much the visitors enjoyed their experience.

Visitor from the northern pa rt of the globe

Written by: Haya Fahad AL Mahmood

One of the winners in the Short Story Writing Competition 2018 Category: 8 - 10 years

Once upon a time, there was a girl who traveled with her family to the northern part of the globe. It was cold there, much colder than the UAE. It’s really hot in the UAE. The girl enjoyed the cold weather, she went on hikes in the mountains and walked in huge forests, it was raining there and it was a summer completely opposite to the UAE. It was a change for her but she really loved the UAE and its hot weather.

One day, while hiking deep inside the green forest with lots of noise from insects and birds and the sound of the waterfall, a little squirrel jumped inside her backpack. She felt the movement but she thought its tree branch that got caught in her bag, so she ignored it.

Then it was time to go

back to the UAE. She put her backpack inside a big suitcase and traveled. The squirrel was still there and no one saw it, even in the airports it wasn’t caught.

When she was sitting in her room one day, she heard a noise and saw a movement in her backpack. She went to check and the squirrel jumped on her and ate all her books and papers. She didn’t tell anyone because she was scared that she would not be allowed to have it, so she hid it in her drawer and gave him food –he was her mystery friend. One day she was caught and her mom asked her where the squirrel had come from. When she told her mom it came from the northern parts of the globe, she was shocked that he did not die in the closed bag or how the

security did not see it in the airport.

The girl begged her mom to allow her to keep it because he was her pet friend now and they understand each other. The mom said, “If you love your friend, you have to make sure he has a good environment for living and proper food. Living in the drawer will kill him and he needs the proper food to grow.”

The girl cried and the squirrel felt she was sad. The girl thought that the squirrel was also sad but when she sat to think, have a really good think, the squirrel was not only sad ... it was also looking unhealthy. His fur was not thick like before and his eyes were not shining.

She went to her mom and told her decision; she asked her mom to take the squirrel to a better place, maybe the vet clinic, but the mother said there was a better place. “We can take him to Al Ain Zoo, we can’t take him back to the northern part of the globe, so the Zoo is the best place for him.” Therefore, the girl and her mom took the squirrel to the Zoo. The Zoo people were nice to accept him and they said it is a special squirrel that looks like he came from special place.

Now every time the girl goes to the Zoo she visits him and he remembers her too, because every time he sees her he starts jumping up and down, squeaking for her, and she always brings him healthy snack as a treat.

RAK Municipality Visit | 8 April 2019

World Heritage Day | 18 - 19 April 2019

Reptile Handling experiences

This is one of the most interesting and exciting experiences in the Zoo. Reptiles can be dangerous and fierce creatures and their handling is not easy, but the Zoo offers a truly unique experience to educate visitors about these animals, especially snakes.

The keeper of these ferocious animals introduces visitors to most types of reptiles in a relaxed manner, including snakes, and so the first thing that arouses the curiosity of visitors is, “Are the snakes carried by the animal keeper around his neck poisonous or not? And how to handle them best?” He responds to all their queries saying that reptiles, like other animals, have senses and sensations and can be peaceful if they have a quiet environment and appropriate behavior, but they may be dangerous if tampered with or become agitated or annoyed.

This experience is available at the Reptile House every Saturday from 4 to 5 pm as are the Hippo and Crocodile shows. From this experience, visitors receive valuable information and insight into the fascinating reptile world, and can even take pictures with them after following the appropriate safety steps.

Grant’s Zebra

The Zebra belongs to the family of horses. Its black-and-white skin stripes make it one of the most distinctive animals in the world.

Original homeland

Grant’s Zebra is the most common type of Zebra species. It mainly lives in the Savannah grasslands in the region from East Africa to Angola in the west.

Characteristics

The unique and contrasting color of black and white makes this

animal one of the most beautiful animals on the safari and visitors love to stay awhile and watch them there. Grant’s Zebra is smallest of the seven plain-dwelling types, where it lives in groups of 17 to 18 zebras.

Food

Weighing approximately 184Kg when adult, Grant’s Zebras spend about two-thirds of their day eating, feeding mainly on grass, but during the drought, they tend to eat tree bark and leaves. Some of these animals can remain without water for up to 5 days and often travel long distances to obtain water. Females that care for their young mostly live close by a source of water until the youngsters are 4 or 5 years old.

Domestication

In spite of all attempts made by human beings to tame the Zebra for use in transportation, plowing and so on, all of these attempts have failed, as the Zebra tends to suffer from extreme fear and panic when exposed to pressure.

Habitat

Zebras live in herds. The Grant’s and Mountain Zebras live in small groups of females and youngsters. The herd is led by a strong alpha male to protect it from other competing adult males, and its survival depends on the availability of food.

Family

Female Zebras give birth to one foal at a time. The young Zebra can stand after just 10 to 20 minutes, and begins walking about an hour after birth. They begin to graze the grass within just a few weeks.

Life Span

Grant’s Zebras typically live for up to 20 years in the wild.

“We cannot tolerate hatred in our country, and we cannot in any way accept discrimination between any person who lives in it or is a citizen of it”

H.H. Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

In 2016, the Council of Ministers adopted the National Program for Tolerance in order to show the true picture of moderation: respect for the other and the dissemination of the values of peace and coexistence within the pillars of Islam, the UAE Constitution, Zayed’s heritage, UAE ethics, international conventions, and shared values.

Sweet dreams my friends

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alainzoouae

Conservation

The Sand Cat

The Sand Cat is a beautiful nocturnal animal that is rarely seen in the wild because of its remote habitats. It is considered a highly endangered animal in the Arab world and the UAE, so Al Ain Zoo began to focus its attention on it in terms of searching for, caring and helping to enhance its breeding, locally and globally.

Successful Efforts

• Establishment of the developed sand cat center, which supports the current center with the highest standards of conservation, breeding and veterinary care.

• Successful first artificial insemination in collaboration with the Cincinnati Zoo in the US and its Center for Research of Endangered Wildlife, CREW.

• Development of gene management plans for the application of breeding programs after the examination of the effects of genetic diversity, in collaboration with French research centers.

• Organizing the first two sand cat protection workshops in the world with international community participation on topics such as “Conservation of the sand cat” and “Management of the sand cat population”.

• Conducting DNA analysis (genetic testing) in collaboration with the Royal Society of Zoology in Scotland to identify the most suitable cats for reproduction and improve their genetic health.

• Adopting the Sand Cat Program at the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the first of its

kind in the Arab region.

• Identification of sand cat groups in the wild through strategic plans and field studies.

• Supporting partners in strategies for Sand Cat conservation such as the Global Animal Information Management System (Zims), the International European Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Species Survival Commission, the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy - Kenya, the Sahara Conservation Fund of Chad and Marwell Zoo in the United Kingdom.

Art of a life trainer and selfawareness explorer Mariam Masoud Al Ahbabi

“I saw the will and purity in the owners of inspiration... and reading took me to multiple lives.”

She was a young student who refined her passion to encompass charitable interactions through volunteer programs in the Red Crescent Authority while at school. She has an adventurous personality that does not allow hesitation or fear to impede her ambition, so her achievements in life are sometimes sequentially planned, and sometimes coincidental.

Mariam Masoud Al Ahbabi, Senior Officer Media, began her journey of excellence during her studies at university when she became the first public relations student to join the UAE Media Leadership Program as part of her class of journalism, radio and television, after which, having been employed in different departments at Al Ain Zoo, she settled in the Marketing and Corporate Communication department.

She graduated from the Department of Public Relations as a major with political studies as a sub-specialty from the UAE University in 2010. Submitting her MBA thesis in 2015 and she becoming a certified International Life Art Coach in 2018.

We asked her, how do you train people in the art of life?

Mariam explained that personal life coach is a new field in the Arab world. “It is a task to help others develop their skills, increase their energy and discover their strengths. This is a science that inspires and motivates you to achieve your goals, solve your problems and learn the skills that will help you manage your life in the right direction.”

What are the qualities of a personal life coach?

“He or she must be constantly developing themselves so that they can deal with people from all walks of life, regardless of their intellectual and cultural level. He or she should

Mariam Al Ahbabi

have a deep understanding in different fields of knowledge and general culture that will enable trainees to reach their goals and eliminate doubts that might impede their excellence.

The field of personal training is beneficial to both parties. After I obtained my training certificate, I became more capable of dealing with others and myself. I became a tactful woman with heightened perceptions, where I found a great difference in myself and developed my awareness for the better.”

I see you reading a lot of books... Is your job the reason?

“I had a lot of interests before; I am an avid reader, a committed athlete, and an aware meditator. I can say that these three pillars had a great advantage in communicating with myself, nourishing the body, soul and mind with integrity. My attention to these concerns have given me many lives, not only one. I love horses and whenever I want to feel freedom, dignity and tranquility, I go to see

horses. I consider myself very lucky to work in Al Ain Zoo because of its wonderful nature and a life that encourages meditation.”

You were recently at the World Summit of Young Leaders held in conjunction with the Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019, what was your experience there?

“I was nominated by the Federal Youth Foundation and proudly I was the only candidate from the city of Al Ain in a group of 30 Emirati leaders from different emirates. It was a unique experience that left a deep impression on me. This is the first time that I have worked with people with Down syndrome; I did not believe how much will and determination these heroes showed, finding freedom from the constraints that stand in the way of their dreams. I also became aware of the many different cultures there, as 192 countries were participating in the Special Olympics World Games. What a rich experience it was, and we are so grateful to the UAE for the

opportunities we are afforded.”

The determination and will may fade with time, how can you keep all this passion?

“When I was a graduate student, the professor asked a general question that had a profound effect on me, ‘Where do you see yourself after five years?’ This question triggered a thousand ideas in my head and alerted me to how I plan to live my life. Thanks to this question, I knew how to prioritize my interests and how to make my ambitions emerge.”

So, where do you see yourself after five years?

“I see myself having established my own agency for media consultancy, helping many people reach their ambitions having got rid of the constraints of illusion. I also see that I adopt more charitable and volunteer projects. The future is full of projects and we all have to consciously plan them to achieve success.”