Dubai Zoo
Giraffes in town
Entrance of Dubai Zoo, Otto Bulart
Who came up with the idea of creating a zoo in Dubai in the 1950s?
An Austrian architect (the power of expats!) named Otto Bulart, who came to Dubai in 1958 as a foreign agent for an Austrian engineering company that was working on the development of the Creek.
He became friends and advisor to Sheikh Rashid and was, among other things, the designer of the Zabeel Palace (hence the imperial European palace style…) and the Deira Clocktower.
Bulart had a passion for animals and underwater photography, and the Sheikh had his own personal collection of exotic animals. As a result, he gifted Bulart a piece of land on Jumeirah Road, where in 1967 he inaugurated the first zoo on the Arabian Peninsula. The entry fee was 1 rupee!
In 1971, Bulart took over the management of the Al Ain Zoo, and Dubai Municipality assumed control of the Dubai Zoo, which remained open until 2017. The animals were then relocated to the new Dubai Safari Park.
Otto Bulart passed away in 1997 in his hometown of Graz, Austria. He is credited with saving many Arabian species from extinction.