During the first couple of years of its existence, the Dubai Zoo housed only a few animals like the big cats, monkeys and hoofed-animals.

[citation needed] In recent years, the Dubai Zoo has come under fire for the conditions in which its animals are housed.

Among these are around 248 mammal specimens, including foxes, hyenas, pumas, Asiatic lions, jaguars, chimpanzees, baboons, monkeys, deer, bears, porcupines, giraffes, hippos, and Barbary sheep.

Endangered species include Socotra shag or cormorant, Bengal tiger, gorilla, subspecies of grey wolf and Arabian wolf, Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), and the indigenous Gordon's wildcat.

[6][7][8] On 11 February 2012 the municipality announced that it had commissioned a study to shift the two-hectare, government-run zoo from Jumeirah to new, world-class premises.

Within two months a consultancy and action team had come up with the final concept, proposing a new location and required area, and recommending the allocation of space for each species according to international standards, said Hussain Lootah, the director general of the municipality.

"The zoo is one of the issues and has been the big talk for many years" said Mr Hussain Lootah, the municipality's director general.

[11] The ambitious Dubai Safari park was developed on land that has been previously a landfill.