Declan O'Donovan, Director of Wildlife, with Cheetah's at the breeding project for re-introduction and creation of a larger captive breeding pool at the Wadi Al Safa Wildlife Centre's private collection in Al Awir.
Declan O'Donovan, Director of Wildlife, with Cheetah's at the breeding project for re-introduction and creation of a larger captive breeding pool at the Wadi Al Safa Wildlife Centre's private collectiShow more

Wildlife centres in UAE toast births of cheetahs



DUBAI // Seven cheetahs have been born this year as part of a captive breeding programme that aims to eventually release the animals into the African wilderness.
The youngest cub was delivered a month ago at Sheikh Butti bin Juma Al Maktoum Wildlife Centre in Dubai, and is being hand-reared by the manager, Alan Stephenson, at his home.
Another privately owned park participating in the scheme, Dubai's Wadi Al Safa Wildlife Centre, has just sent two cheetahs to Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation in Qatar, where they will breed.
The North African cheetah is critically endangered and the political instability in its traditional range is hampering conservation efforts. It is much rarer than the species found in southern Africa.
The idea of the project is to ensure there are strong, viable specimens available for release when conditions become suitable. This is done by carefully matching pairs to avoid inbreeding and produce the greatest possible genetic diversity.
Cheetahs from the Sheikh Butti collection and the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife in Sharjah, which is also involved in the breeding programme, have been successfully released into the wild on Sir Bani Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.  The project is being coordinated and managed by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).
"There are groups here in the UAE who have cheetahs and there is cooperation between them," said Declan O'Donovan, director of wildlife services at Wadi Al Safa. "We work closely with Sheikh Butti, the breeding centre in Sharjah, and other facilities, so it's not just something we're doing ourselves. We have meetings and discuss what animals we can exchange.
"It's come on a long way in the last few years - there is a lot more openness and disclosure of what animals are available for breeding."
Mr Stephenson said: "North Africa is politically quite unstable and, when you have that, wildlife goes out the window. So at least we'll have a genetic pool here, so that when we need to reintroduce animals once again, we can.
"We donated some cheetahs and they have been introduced successfully on Sir Bani Yas Island, so it does work."
Wadi Al Safa, Sheikh Butti and the Sharjah centre have bred the most cheetahs and have exported animals to zoos and wildlife centres in the UK, France, Ireland, Switzerland and Holland as part of the breeding programme.
EAZA's stud book coordinator is Sean McKeown, who formerly managed Sheikh Butti's collection. He uses special software to work out which individual cheetahs should mate to achieve the best results, and in September he will send his recommendations for the coming year to the centres.
Sheikh Butti pioneered the captive breeding of cheetahs in the Middle East. The seven newcomers have joined 23 adults at the centre, which is a member of EAZA and follows Mr McKeown's guidelines on what are genetically the best breeding combinations for the species.
There were some additional births but, as happens in the wild, not all survived.
Wadi Al Safa currently has 23 adult cheetahs. Mr O'Donovan is critical of those who keep cheetahs and other big cats as house pets.
"I don't think it's acceptable," he said. "All our cats are second or third-generation captive-bred and we're keeping them for a specific purpose. The idea of keeping them as a trophy, I don't think is right.
"They're not suitable for a house. I've hand-reared some at home and I keep them for one or two months before bringing them into the collection so that they can be socialised with other cheetahs without becoming too imprinted on their human hosts.
"But I wouldn't keep them any longer because they become too big. They'll destroy your house as well - they will chew through your favourite coffee table."
csimpson@thenational.ae

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The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Malaysia Airlines all fly direct from the UAE to Kuala Lumpur and on to Penang from about Dh2,300 return, including taxes. 
 

Where to stay
In Kuala Lumpur, Element is a recently opened, futuristic hotel high up in a Norman Foster-designed skyscraper. Rooms cost from Dh400 per night, including taxes. Hotel Stripes, also in KL, is a great value design hotel, with an infinity rooftop pool. Rooms cost from Dh310, including taxes. 


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23 Love Lane in Penang is a luxury boutique heritage hotel in a converted mansion, with private tropical gardens. Rooms cost from Dh400, including taxes. 
In Langkawi, Temple Tree is a unique architectural villa hotel consisting of antique houses from all across Malaysia. Rooms cost from Dh350, including taxes.

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Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Other workplace saving schemes
  • The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
  • Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
  • National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
  • In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
  • Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

UPI facts

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Herbie Kane

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Luis Longstaff

Signed from Newcastle but no relation to United’s brothers Sean and Matty, Luis is a winger. An England Under-16 international, he helped Liverpool win the FA Youth Cup last season.

 

Yasser Larouci

An 18-year-old Algerian-born winger who can also play as a left-back, Larouci did well on Liverpool’s pre-season tour until an awful tackle by a Sevilla player injured him.

 

Adam Lewis

Steven Gerrard is a fan of his fellow Scouser, who has been on Liverpool’s books since he was in the Under-6s, Lewis was a midfielder, but has been converted into a left-back.

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Date started: December 2015

Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan

Sector: Technology and home services

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St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais

Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais

 

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Started: January 2018

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Based: Jordan

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