Al Hefaiyah Mountain Conservation Centre ( ar, مَرْكَز ٱلْحفيَّة لِصوْن ٱلْحَيَاة ٱلْجَبَلِيَّة) is a wildlife reserve and visitor centre located west of the coastal town of

Kalba Kalba () is a city in the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is an exclave of Sharjah lying on the Gulf of Oman coast north of Oman. Khor Kalba (Kalba Creek), an important nature reserve and mangrove swamp, is located south ...

in the

Emirate of Sharjah The Emirate of Sharjah (; ar, إِمَارَة ٱلشَّارِقَة ') is one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates, which covers and has a population of over 1,400,000 (2015). It comprises the capital city of Sharjah, after which it ...

, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Facilities

Opened in 2016, the Conservation Centre is a

wildlife sanctuary A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

and visitor centre, with some 30 animals preserved at the centre, including

Arabian leopard The Arabian leopard (''Panthera pardus nimr'') is a leopard subspecies native to the Arabian Peninsula. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1996 as fewer than 200 wild individuals were estimated to be alive ...

s, which are thought to now be

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

in the wild in the United Arab Emirates. It has been hailed as a major step forward in the conservation of endangered mountain species in the UAE, and in 2016, won the Middle East Architect educational project of the year award.

Fauna

Developed by the

Sharjah Investment and Development Authority The Sharjah Investment and Development Authority, also known as Shurooq, is responsible for the development of the Emirate of Sharjah, one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as an investment, tourism, and business destination. ...

(''Shurooq''), the Centre is operated by the Sharjah Environment and Protected Areas Authority. The centre comprises a number of landscape enclosures in which mountain fauna are housed in their natural environment. Many of the species housed at the centre were previously at Sharjah's Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife (BCEAW) and are indigenous to the regions of Wadi Al Helo,

Khor Fakkan Khor Fakkan ( ar, خَوْر فَكَّان, Khawr Fakkān) is a city and exclave of the Emirate of Sharjah, located on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), facing the Gulf of Oman, and geographically surrounded by the Emirate of Fuja ...

, and Kalba in

Al Hajar Mountains The Hajar Mountains ( ar, جِبَال ٱلْحَجَر, Jibāl al-Ḥajar, ''The Rocky Mountains'' or ''The Stone Mountains'') in northeastern Oman and also the eastern United Arab Emirates are the highest mountain range in the eastern Arabian ...

. Outdoor animals include Arabian leopard,

rock hyrax The rock hyrax (; ''Procavia capensis''), also called dassie, Cape hyrax, rock rabbit, and (in the King James Bible) coney, is a medium-sized terrestrial mammal native to Africa and the Middle East. Commonly referred to in South Africa as the das ...

gazelle A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . This article also deals with the seven species included in two further genera, ''Eudorcas'' and ''Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third f ...

caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted e ...

Arabian tahr The Arabian tahr (''Arabitragus jayakari'') is a species of tahr native to eastern Arabia. Until recently, it was placed in the genus '' Hemitragus'', but genetic evidence supports its removal to a separate monotypic genus, ''Arabitragus''. The ...

Arabian wolf The Arabian wolf (''Canis lupus arabs'') is a subspecies of gray wolf native to the Arabian Peninsula, the Negev Desert, the Sinai Peninsula, and Jordan. It is the smallest wolf subspecies, and a desert-adapted subspecies that normally lives i ...

, and striped hyena. In addition to the critically endangered leopard, the Arabian wolf ''(Canis lupus arabs)'' and Arabian tahr ''(Arabitragus jayakari)'' are designated threatened species by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

(IUCN). Smaller species are housed indoors at the centre and include snakes, lizards and hedgehogs. Visitors to the centre travel around the outdoor areas in golf buggies with guides, with a number of hides set up to allow the animals to be observed in their natural habitat. The centre also plays host to art exhibitions and other events.

Artworks

The centre houses several permanent artworks commissioned by the EPPA (Environment and Protected Areas Authority), including six sound installations by Bradley-Weaver, local designer Khalid Mezaina and artist Joris De Raedt.

References

External links

مركز الحفية لصون البيئة الجبلية
(In Arabic)
مركز الحفية لصون البيئة الجبلية .. مشروع مزج التثقيف بالمعرفة
(

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

)
مركز الحفية لصون البيئة الجبلية ومركز كلباء للطيور الجارحة في الشارقة

Al Hefaiyah Mountain Conservation Centre , Kalba , Location

Visiting Al Hefaiyah Mountain Conservation Centre in Kalba Sharjah 27.09.2018

Arabian Tahr (''Arabitragus jayakari'') at Al Hefaiyah Mountain Conservation Centre in Kalba Sharjah

{{authority control Wildlife sanctuaries of the United Arab Emirates Wildlife conservation Sharjah articles Zoos in the United Arab Emirates

Facilities

Fauna

Artworks

See also

References

External links