The Kingdom of Bahrain is the first Arab country to open up a park that serves as a home to different animals. The Al Areen Wildlife Park and Reserve is a conservation project wherein the management needs to respond to the problem of food, pollution and extinction. The reserve project was established in 1976 to promote and preserve the endangered animals.
The park is divided into a couple of sections – the park and the reserve. The land area in total is around 7 square kilometers. It has three square kilometers where public viewing is allowed, and you may take a look around from the tourist buses of the park. There are birds, plants and mammals all over the park. The reserve occupies the 4 kilometers, which is for the breeding, conservation and preservation of the rare animals. Only authorized people like the veterinarians, researchers, animals keepers are allowed to the area.
The Al Areen Wildlife has four parks:
1. Wild Birds Park
The Wild Birds Park has an estimated 4,000 square meters with a width of 50 meters and a length of 80 meters. Here, you may take a walk into a large cave, which is designed so that the birds could freely fly and live. The management has conceptualized the cage creatively, making the birds not feel that they are being held captive. As you wander around, you can see birds everywhere since there is a total of 82 bird species. The Wild Birds Park environment allows the birds to move fancy-free. They are well-protected inside the park.
2. Water Birds Park
There are five artificial lakes that are specifically created to ensure that the birds can enjoy them. The lakes are patterned with different water levels so that people can also go fishing, while ducks and other birds can take a swim.
Take a walk around them and be enthralled by the water birds who are contented with their home. You can see the black Tufted ducks of the Wood Whistling Duck happily swimming. The flamingo birds are also nestled in their own lake. The all-white feathers of the Japanese Crane will have you amazed with its natural beauty. The park has also adopted endangered frogs. They are located in a small swamp – a good place for their reproduction. Amazing!
3. Wild Animals Complex
The Al Areen Wildlife has a total of 45 mammals. In the Wild Animals Complex, you can meet different wild animals that are only found in Bahrain. Some of these are Hyena, Arabian Wolf, Arabian Leopard, Saluki dog, Lynx and many others. In the reserve, the management sees to it that all animals are well taken care of. The park is proud to say that they are one of the few among other countries who succeeded in breeding those endangered animals. Wild life adventure is here!
4. Desert Flora Garden
The park is not only a home to animals, but to plants as well. Take a walk in the garden, so you can see the different plants. There are 25 types of plants in the area, which are mostly used in alternative medicine. The park has included the Bahrain medical desert plants as the researchers have the perfect place to study the plants.