2020 "مجلة حديقة الحيوانات بالعين"زوولايف" \ ZooLife May Edition 2020

MAY 2020

Abu Dhabi Desert Over Time Gallery A journey between seas and sand dunes

Flamingo... A lover of life on open beaches

READ OUR NEWS:

Interview with Debo the famous hippo & talented kids corner

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VISITOR LENS

Cheetah is the fastest land mammal using speeds up to 110 kph to catch their prey. Cheetah is built for speed, with a deep chest, small waist and long limbs. They are the only big cat that cannot roar, but they can however purr most loudly when sitting near other cheetahs.

CONTENT

Photo by: Cronjesilvia

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05 EXPERIENCE

06-07 PLANTS

13-14 MEET OUR CELEBRITIES

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our team

The largest environmental library operated by Emirati cadres

The Research Centre at The Sheikh Zayed Desert Learning Centre A team of professionals who appreciate knowledge, and are very good with an audience, they gather information and classify them carefully, organizing them to the highest international standards, and present their result in an electronic format to facilitate their research and retrieval of all information stored in the library.

When you visit the Research Center, perhaps confused about where to start, the staff warmly welcomes you and walk you through the aisles and shelving to show you all environmentrelated books. They helpfully explain the regulations and instructions. They work exceptionally hard to search for the topic you want.

They are the mediator between the books and its readers. They are the experts who help visitors access the information they are looking for very quickly, whether an employee or a visitor.

They may help researchers find a book about the Arabian Oryx or Palm Trees, or the definition of desertification, while at other times they promote messages of motivation to employees and visitors alike, encouraging them to read, choosing the reader of the month among many other activities. They also promote the role of the Center in helping employees to develop their daily tasks effectively, creating programs and services for visitors, supported by their extensive knowledge and collection of facts.

When you see them doing their jobs passionately, it reflects the progress made by Emirati citizens.

They are a team who happily work hard to run the largest environment research centre in the UAE. They are expert librarians, employing the science of collecting, describing, preserving, retrieving and promoting information.

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Experiences

Abu Dhabi Desert Over Time In “Abu Dhabi Desert over Time Gallery”, We will wander through deserts, mountains, seas and sand dunes to learn more about Abu Dhabi’s desert origin. This is divided into three main phases. The first phase highlights internal and external factors such as wind, water and heat that formed the desert’s sand dunes and caves. Additionally, it shows how the earth movement resulted in forming tectonic plates, lava, volcanos, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.

The second phase highlights the story of Abu Dhabi in the course of five periods (five rocks), the first three of which was under water. In the fourth period we will see how fresh water, rivers and animals emerged in Abu Dhabi which is represented in an amazing highly detailed glass model. The fifth period showcases the start of the hot and dry climate which is known by special environmental features such as marshes, sand dunes and high temperatures.

During the tour you will be astonished by a magnificent cave which is a miniature replica of one of Jabal Hafeet’s caves, showing all the known inhabitants that used to be there.

The third phase of the gallery will teach us about our past through fossils and the elephant tusk remains which once roamed the Arabian Peninsula before the tectonic plate movement era that divided the continents in Ruwais. This fossil was discovered ten years ago by Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey, ADIAS. Touring Abu Dhabi Desert over Time gallery, you will be captivated by the interest and experiences. Instead of the modern building silence we will hear the sounds of nature such as the wind, wild animals, birds, and others.

You will experience the real wildlife in the heart of a modern architectural masterpiece surrounded by amazingly shaped marble rocks which is a part of any Emirati house today.

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Plants

Shu’ Tree Family: Moringaceae Plant name: Shu’, baan, wild drumstick tree Scientific name: Moringa peregrina

Traditional uses: Oil extracted from seeds used to treat headache, fever, muscle, pains, burns, abdominal pain and constipation. Mixed with clove and cardamom oil used during labor as drink. Extract of leaves rubbed on skin to treat skin rash.

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DESCRIPTION

Tree up to 6-10 m, stem with smooth grey bark, branching after 2-3 m.

Branches drooping. Leaves alternate, with many oblong leaflets. 0.10.6 x 1-2.5 cm, that are rarely seen because they fall off quickly after flowers appear. Leaving central leaf axis (up to 30 cm long).

Flowers white streaked with pink c. 3 cm across, in multi-flowered sprays on stalks from leaf nodes, very fragrant. Sepals 5, united at base, white, falling off quickly. Petals 5, free pinkish, crowded together.

Fruits cylindrical, longitudinally ribbed, up to 30 cm long, dark brown, opening by 3 valves. Seeds triangular, white.

Flowering: February to June.

Habitat: Mountain slopes up to 800 m Distribution: Common and widespread

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at our zoo

Flamingos and their love for open beaches

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The Flamingo is one of the most recognised and beautiful birds in the world. It can be found on the banks or in the shallow waters of lakes, preening its feathers and moving its stick-thin legs to perform graceful movements. It can easily be identified by its long legs, hooked beak, pink feathers and arched neck, which make it one of the most beautiful birds in the world. The young are born with brown or gray feathers which gradually turn to pink, depending on their diet.

Habitat

Characteristics

Flamingos live in the temperate regions of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Paraguay in addition to Peru and Uruguay.

Flamingos are very social birds; they live in colonies whose population can number in the thousands. These large colonies are believed to serve three purposes: avoiding predators, maximizing food intake, and using scarce suitable nesting sites more efficiently.

Features This bird is characterized by its gray feathers that turn pink or red after maturity, as aquatic bacteria and its diet (which contains a lot of beta-carotene), turns it them a beautiful color. The more a Flamingo eats, the richer and darker the shade of pink will be.

Food It feeds on artemia, also known as brine shrimp, red, green and blue algae, and occasional larvae, insects, crustaceans, mollusks and small fish.

Hook-shaped Beak

There are six species of Flamingo, each inhabiting a different area of the world, and they usually stand on one leg while the other is tucked beneath its body. The reason for this behavior is not fully understood, but some people believe that Flamingo has the ability to relax half of its body by sleeping while the other half is awake.

Recent research suggests that Flamingos stand on one leg to help keep warm while standing for long periods in cold water.

Flamingo uses its beak to separate its food from mud and silt. It stands in shallow water, submerging its head under water and uniquely use its beak upside-down, moving its head from side to side in order to sift through the soil.

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Towards the Next 50

UAE National Brand In January 2020, the UAE National Brand office, which is affiliated with the Public Diplomacy Office in the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs, started its duties and announced the launch of new brand guidelines and a new website, www.nationbrand.ae.

The tasks of the National Brand office include building strategic partnerships with relevant authorities in the country’s various economic, cultural, and societal sectors by helping to communicate the Emirates’ story to the world, following up on the evaluation of a unified national brand, and measuring brand strength. In addition, the office coordinates strategies and initiatives for unified brand activities with all federal and local government agencies in the country and supports the implementation of a unified national brand with the seven Emirates.

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Short Story

Circle Of Life Written by: Aditi Avadhani First place winner for 8-10 years old in the environmental story competition in Al Ain Zoo

Once there lived a girl called Ayesha. Ayesha was a seven year old who loved nature. She went to a school that was a located on a hill. In her school, there was a beautiful garden. There were colorful flowers, lots of happy insects, and birds chirped all day long…..this garden was paradise! In this garden Ayesha had a tiny friend, the bee.

She was in tears. Ayesha did not hear the school bell announce the start of school.

Everyday Ayesha went a few minutes early to school so she could go to the garden. One day, she entered the garden and saw her friend the bee crying. She asked him why he was crying. He said “I came out to teach my little brother how to suck nectar when a huge hawk flew down and carried him away (sniff)”.

Ayesha’s teacher, Miss Sara, realized that Ayesha was not in class. She went to look for Ayesha. She found her on the garden bench crying. Miss Sara rushed to Ayesha and asked “Oh dear!

What’s the matter?” Ayesha told her about the bee, the hawk, the sensor and the ruined garden. “All I wanted to do was help. My friend the bee says that this is my fault. What did I do wrong?” she sobbed.

Ayesha felt bad for the bee. After school, she thought about how she could help the insects. She had an idea. She had seen sensors on water taps in the mall. She asked her father, who was an engineer, to make a similar sensor that would beep and warn the insects when a predator came close. Her father agreed and made the sensor.

Ayesha placed the sensor in the garden. She demonstrated it to her insect friends. They thanked her for the ‘safe’ sensor.

All the insects were very safe but soon there were so many of them that they had finished all of the nectar and started eating the flowers, the leaves and so on. The beautiful garden had become the ugliest garden ever.

Her teacher gave her a mournful smile and said “You have interrupted the circle of life. Every living creature becomes food for another. If this chain is destroyed by humans, there will be chaos in nature.” Ayesha realized what she had done wrong. She removed all the sensors and apologized to her friend, the bee.

She also promised to help revive the garden.

Let’s remember…..Human interference can tip over the balance of nature.

A few weeks later, Ayesha came to the garden to find only a few plants and thousands of buzzing insects everywhere. Ayesha asked the bee what was wrong. He angrily said, “YOU!” and flew away to save a plant from falling.

The birds were hungry and dying because they did not have any food. Ayesha looked around her and saw the ruined garden.

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conservation

Nature conservation is a lifeline!

Nature conservation is the very essence of Al Ain Zoo and its desired goals for which it was established in 1968. So, what is nature conservation? And what motivates us to exert ourselves and harness both local and global potentials for it?

Did you know that the Earth has lost more than half of its wildlife population since the 1970s?!

Humans have been the main reason behind the extinction of about 750 species; mostly caused by the increase in the human population from 1 billion to 7 billion in 200 years and individuals meeting their basic and luxury needs to survive while threatening the lives of other organisms.

The consumption of natural resources such as water, fuel, plants, animals and even air, has increased through our excessive use of electricity, cars, mobile phones, construction, industries and the production of every commodity we buy, use and destroy.

In the past, humans lived in coherence with nature without causing too much damage or destruction.

They planted, ate, hunted, built their houses and moved according to their needs only because they realized that nature provided them with food, medicine, water, purity, shade, warmth and light.

Take medicine, for example: 50% of the drugs we use are extracted directly from plants, and

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scientific facts confirm that over 60% of people around the world rely entirely on herbal therapy.

For millennia, the universe has existed in harmony.

Trees produce oxygen, purify water and prevent soil erosion, while fungus and birds of prey remove dead plants and animals to help keep the environment clean. Even small insects contribute to pollinating crops, and there are many other examples of the balance of nature. Humans, however, consume resources without thinking where they come from or how they were produced.

The undeniable fact is that whenever we destroy nature, we hurt ourselves. We should not consider the value of the environment solely from our personal perspective, because all the living things on this planet have the right to exist, and since humans are the most intelligent and advanced creatures on earth, the greatest responsibility lies with them to protect the environment.

We must recognize that the conservation of nature is the lifeline for the continuation of life on earth, and therefore we must save the endangered species, protect and restore the various natural environments and wildlife.

It is a cycle of life or death: we decide.

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Meet our celebrities

Her birth was the most famous of all the animals in the Al Ain Zoo

Debo the famous hippo ZooLife: Hey, hello!

Debo: Welcome, who are you? I see you for the first time!

ZooLife: I am ZooLife magazine.

Debo: Hurray! I heard about you before, but how did you get to our underwater exhibit? No one is allowed to enter except our friends the animal keepers. It also seems that you are good at diving?

ZooLife: I am not that great, but I learned specifically for you, Debo.

Debo: What?! And you know my name too?

ZooLife: Of course, my dear. Since your birth, you are the star and the center of attention for all our visitors.

Debo: Oh my God! Since my birth? You must be exaggerating!

ZooLife: It seems like no one has told you about your birth story. It was one of the most famous births in the zoo.

Debo: Really?! But how?

ZooLife: Your birth came quite suddenly right in front of the visitors. Their cameras began to take pictures of such a rare scene in the zoo, all media channels and social media addressed the news of your birth with joy and celebration! You are not an ordinary hippo, Deboo.

Debo: Oh my God! I’m embarrassed by this beautiful compliment. I am really surprised that my mom did not tell me about it.

ZooLife: Don’t be shy, you are the visitors’ favorite, and I love seeing you diving gracefully underwater - that’s why I came.

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Debo: Hmmm, you really took the trouble to learn to swim to come here to see me dive? You could see that from the outside as all visitors do!

ZooLife: Haha, you are smart, Debo. Well, actually, I came here to chat and let our readers know more about you.

Debo: I am very happy. As you know, my name is Debo, a name that my zoo fans chose for me through a competition on social media platforms.

They call me the star of the show, a show that we present every Friday to the visitors who line up in front of our exhibition. They enjoy getting to know me and my small family.

ZooLife: Can you tell me more about your family?

Debo: There are four members. Mum and dad, me, then my younger sister Crystal. Our original homes were in African countries such as Angola, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Central African Republic, Gabon, and Zambia. Al Ain Zoo brought my parents here to live safely from the danger of extinction.

Here we have a big beautiful family in the Al Ain Zoo, Animal Keepers give us all the care and love we need. Al Ain Zoo is working hard to increase our species number to save us from the extinction, while ensuring that we remain in excellent health.

My father is currently not with us because he went to the breeding program.

ZooLife: Tell me about this beautiful exhibit.

Debo: In this beautiful water exhibit, I am surrounded by pure and warm water that came from the filter system. I’m proud of my wonderful home. The opportunity to live in a house that is the first of its kind in the Middle East is not available to everyone.

ZooLife: You know, Debo, I’ve heard so much strange information about hippos!

Debo: I am not surprised, we are curious amphibians. What did you hear about us?

ZooLife: Is it true that the density of your skin is ZooLife: What?! Is that even possible? twenty times thicker than human skin? Also, can you hold your breath underwater for five minutes Debo: Haha, yes, this red oily sweat is a natural with ease? moisturizer for my skin and protects me from the sun’s rays. Since it’s a natural antibiotic and germDebo: Haha, it certainly is very easy because I killer, I do not even need moisturizing creams or am amphibious, and it is very natural for us to sunscreen. breathe underwater. As for the density of my skin compared to humans, it is really as you ZooLife: What beautiful and exciting information, said. My skin density reaches 50 mm, and I can my dear Debo. I am very happy that I met you, travel overland for a distance of 10 km at night in but I have to go now because I cannot stay in the search of grass. I am consuming 35 kg of grass water more than this. My papers will melt and to live in good health for sixty years in the zoo or disappear. Be well, my friend, and enjoy the rare forty years in the wild. gifts that God has given you.

ZooLife: Why twenty years less in the wild?

Debo: Goodbye, ZooLife.

Debo: Because I am exposed to many dangers in ZooLife: Goodbye, Debo! the wild that threaten my survival and deny my existence, including poaching, human hunting, and predators like lions, crocodiles, and hyenas.

Here, I am blessed with great care and safety which let me live longer and more peacefully.

What do you think, ZooLife? Do you want me to tell you another cute fact about me?

ZooLife: Sure! Come on, tell me! I’m so excited!

Debo: Can you believe that I spend 16 hours a day immersed in water to keep my body cool from the sun and that my sweat is oily and red?

She spends 16 hours immersed in water and her oily red veins are a natural antibiotic.

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Talented Kids

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‫زوو اليف | مايو ‪17 | 2020‬‬

‫أطفال مبدعون‬

‫‪ | 16‬زوو اليف | مايو ‪2020‬‬

‫الفالمنجو‬

‫شجرة‬ ‫الشوع‬

‫فــي معــرض صحــراء أبوظبــي عبــر الزمــن الــذي يجــده الزائــر بمركــز الشــيخ زايــد لعلــوم الصحــراء نجــوب صحــارى وجبــال‬ ‫وبحــار ورمــال‪ ،‬لنتعــرف علــى نشــأة صحــراء أبوظبــي مــن خــال ‪ 3‬أقســام يتحــدث األول عــن العوامــل الداخليــة والخارجيــة‬ ‫لتكــون الصحــراء مــن خــال الريــاح والميــاه والحــرارة التــي كونــت فيمــا بعــد الكهــوف والكثبــان الرمليــة وحركــة األرض‬ ‫ومــا يتكــون عنهــا مــن ألــواح تكتونيــة وناريــة وبراكيــن وصخــور رســوبية ومتحولــة‪.‬‬ ‫و يــروي لنــا القســم الثانــي قصــة أبوظبــي فــي خمــس فتــرات زمنيــة (خمســة صخــور) تمثــل الثــاث األولــى منهــا مراحــل‬ ‫تحــت المــاء‪ ،‬فيمــا نــرى فــي المرحلــة الرابعــة دخــول أبوظبــي فــي مرحلــة ظهــور الميــاه العذبــة واألنهــار والحيوانــات التــي‬ ‫نــرى تصــورًا حيــً لهــا فــي مجســم زجاجــي بديــع يمثــل إمــارة أبوظبــي فــي هــذه الحقبــة مــن الزمــن‪ ،‬أمــا الفتــرة الخامســة‬ ‫فتتحــدث عــن دخــول المنــاخ الصحــراوي الحــار الجــاف الــذي يتميــز بنظــام بيئــي خــاص مثــل الســبخات والكثبــان الرمليــة‬ ‫وارتفــاع درجــات الحــرارة‪.‬‬ ‫كمــا نصــادف أثنــاء جولتنــا كهــف مذهــل أقــرب للحقيقــة يالمــس الطبيعــة فــي نمــوذج مصغــر عــن كهــوف جبــل‬ ‫حفيــت ومــا تضمــه مــن كائنــات وطبيعــة حيــاة تأخذنــا مــن مفاجــاة ألخــرى‪.‬‬ ‫ونتعــرف فــي نهايــة المعــرض إلــى الماضــي العريــق عــن طريــق األحافيــر التــي تســتقبلنا فــي مقدمتهــا بقايــا نــاب فيــل‬ ‫كان يجــوب شــبه الجزيــرة العربيــة فــي هــذه الحقبــة قبــل حركــة األلــواح التكتونيــة التــي أدت إلــى انقســام القــارات‬ ‫بمنطقــة الرويــس‪ ،‬وهــو األحفــور الــذي اكتشــفه مركــز المســح األثــري لجــزر أبوظبــي قبــل عشــر ســنوات‪.‬‬ ‫تجــارب كثيــرة ممتعــة ترافقنــا أثنــاء الرحلــة فــي (أبوظبــي عبــر الزمــن)‪ ،‬فلــن نتجــول وســط صمــت المبانــي الحديثــة‪ ،‬إنمــا‬ ‫ســتداعب مســامعنا بيــن فينــة وأخــرى أصــوات الطبيعــة مــن الريــاح والحيوانــات البريــة والطيــور وغيرهــا‪ ،‬فنحيــا حيــاة‬ ‫بريــة حقيقيــة وســط تحفــة معماريــة حديثــة‪ ،‬وصخــور عجيبــة ذات أشــكال و تموجــات مبهــرة تشــكل جــزءًا مــن منازلنــا‬ ‫لمــا تحويــه مــن صخــور رخاميــة رائعــة‪.‬‬

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