Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation (AWWP) is a privately owned wildlife preserve in the heart of

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

founded by Qatari Prince

Saud bin Muhammed Al Thani Saud bin Muhammad bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Jassim bin Muhammed Al Thani (28 February 1966 – 9 November 2014) was a Qatari prince who served as minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage. By the turn of the 21st century, Shaikh Sa’ud had establish ...

. The preservation accommodates the World Heritage Cycad Gene Bank (WHCGB), which operates in conjunction under formal agreement with several overseas national governments to protect both ''

in situ ''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...

'' and ''

ex situ Svalbard GLOBAL SEED BANK, an ''ex situ'' conservation. ''Ex situ'' conservation literally means, "off-site conservation". It is the process of protecting an endangered species, variety or breed, of plant or animal outside its natural habitat; ...

'' this family of prehistoric plants. The preserve is home to roughly 2,000 animals and has a staff of over 200. It occupies 2.5 square kilometers of land, including a 1,000-square-meter state of the art climate controlled greenhouse. The preserve is known for breeding

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

and threatened species of animals and vascular plants, including the

beira antelope The beira (''Dorcatragus megalotis'') is a small arid adapted antelope that inhabits arid regions of the Horn of Africa. It is the only member of the genus ''Dorcatragus''. Description The beira has a bushy tail and a coarse coat which is red ...

golden-headed lion tamarin The golden-headed lion tamarin (''Leontopithecus chrysomelas''), also the golden-headed tamarin, is a lion tamarin endemic to Brazil. It is found only in the lowland and premontane tropical forest fragments in the state of Bahia, and therefore i ...

dibatag The dibatag (''Ammodorcas clarkei''), or Clarke's gazelle, is a medium-sized slender antelope native to Ethiopia and Somalia. Though not a true gazelle, it is similarly marked, with long legs and neck. It is often confused with the gerenuk due ...

, ''

Encephalartos ''Encephalartos'' is a genus of cycad native to Africa. Several species of ''Encephalartos'' are commonly referred to as bread trees, bread palms or kaffir bread, since a bread-like starchy food can be prepared from the centre of the stem. The ge ...

'', Sudan cheetah and

North African ostrich The North African ostrich, red-necked ostrich, or Barbary ostrich (''Struthio camelus camelus'') is the nominate subspecies of the common ostrich from West and North Africa. It is the largest subspecies, making it the largest living bird. Evolu ...

. It is most noted for its breeding of Spix's macaw, one of the rarest bird species in the world.

References

External links

Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation homepage
{{coord missing, Qatar Wildlife sanctuaries of Qatar Wildlife parks Year of establishment missing Tourist attractions in Qatar