Construction to begin on new zoo this year

Qatar will have a world-leading  zoo by 2017, featuring safaris, an elephant walk-way over Al Waab Street and a seven-star tree-top hotel which will help elevate the country to being a global tourist destination, a senior Ashghal executive has said.

Construction of the multi-million-dollar zoo,  replacing the existing decades-old one, would begin this year.

The $63mn (QR230mn)  zoo will be inaugurated by the end of 2017.

During a presentation, titled “New Doha Zoo – A Case Study in Sustainable Approach to Tourist Development in Qatar”, it was shown that the zoo would have three hotels  - a tree house hotel (seven stars); a rainforest hotel (five stars) and a Montane family resort (four stars).

The tree house hotel will have only four units/suites, the rainforest hotel up to 60 rooms and the Montane family resort around 100 rooms.

Aside the hotels,  there will be two restaurants serving exotic food to guests.

The new zoo, which will cover over 70 hectares, seven times the size of the current facility, will be divided into several regions representing the natural and climatic features of three continents.

The new zoo, based  on the vision of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, would be linked to the Aspire Park and Villaggio mall via a cable car, a dedicated tram system and a custom-built walk-way to create a “zoo within a park”.

The zoo would be split into zones and would feature various animal attractions, including gorillas, giraffes, lions, tigers, rhinos and elephants.

The zoo will have a controlled biosphere roof system – the first of its kind in the world – where it will rain once an hour, and a river ride throughout the zoo network. “Visitors will be able to get to the zoo by cable car directly from Villaggio or by dedicated tram system.”

He said the zoo would  be able to offer parking facilities to Villaggio mall goers as up to 2,500 car slots are to be provided, including an underground car park.

Source: Gulf Times