Emirates Park Zoo, Wildlife park in Al Bahia, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Emirates Park Zoo & Resort is a privately owned zoo and resort in Al Bahia, Abu Dhabi, opened in 2012 on about 39.8 acres (16.1 hectares) landscaped with African themes. As of 2025 it holds more than 1,100 animals of over 220 species, among them Asian bush elephants, Asiatic lions, white tigers, gharials and African grey parrots.
Emirates Park Zoo and Resort was launched in 2008 as the first private zoo in the United Arab Emirates and opened to the public in 2012. Since then it has undergone multiple expansions and redevelopment phases to improve animal welfare, visitor experience and conservation capacity.
The zoo runs daily animal presentations and educational talks, and offers paid encounters such as breakfast with sea lions or giraffes and dinners with big cats or elephants. Its breeding work uses artificial insemination, IVF and biobanking, following AZA and WAZA standards. It is chaired by Dr Nasser Lakhreibani Al Nuaimi, with Dr Walid Shaaban as CEO.
The zoo lies in Al Bahia, about 17 km from Zayed International Airport, roughly 45 minutes by road from central Abu Dhabi and about the same from Dubai, and 15 minutes from Yas Island. The grounds cover around 39.8 acres, so plan for walking between exhibits.
Emirates Park Zoo was the first zoo in the UAE to make recycled paper from elephant dung: one kilogram of dung yields about 20 sheets of handmade A4 paper, produced by hand without machinery. The zoo also runs a recycling partnership with cleantech firm Sparklo that has collected over 340,000 plastic bottles and aluminium cans.
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