Category: Animals & Wildlife

A whale shark is currently lost and stranded inside one of the lagoons in Khiran. Whale Sharks are slow-moving filter-feeding sharks and feed almost exclusively on plankton and small fishes, and so pose no threat to humans. They’ve been seen a number of times before in Kuwait. Back in 2009 a whale shark got stranded in Marina Crescent and divers managed to free it again. In 2006 though the whale shark didn’t get as lucky when it got stranded in Khiran and ended up dying.

تواجد سعادة الشيخ #عبدالله_الاحمد الحمود الصباح مدير عام #الهيئة_العامة_للبيئة ورئيس مجلس الادارة في منطقة صباح الاحمد البحرية لطمأنه رواد البحر والشاليهات من القرش الحوتي المتواجد بالمنطقة حيث ان هذا النوع من اسماك القرش يعتمد على العوالق النباتية في غذائه كما يقوم بفلتره الماء pic.twitter.com/U7ATmqGgUd

— الهيئة العامة للبيئة (@EPA_KW) September 24, 2022

Based on the videos and information circulating, some boats were trying to chase the shark out and ended up running over it and cutting off one of its fins. The EPA had to issue a message to the public to explain that whale sharks are harmless and basically not to attack it.

You can check out videos of the whale shark on the instagram account @kayak4kuwait as well as stay posted on the EPA’s progress by following their account @epa_kw

A couple of years ago a whale shark got stuck inside a lagoon in Abu Dhabi and was freed in a dramatic rescue operation. You can watch that rescue in the video above.

Photo by Ahmad Dashti

Back in 2015 I posted about an abandoned zoo project off the 6th Ring Road. Turned out the abandoned project was a small zoo. Around 10 years ago there used to be a small zoo in Fintas called The Little Jungle but it closed down when the government took over the land to convert it to a residential area. To compensate the owner, the government gave him a much larger land off the 6th Ring Road so he could rebuild his project. I guess the owner ran into financial problems and the project was abandoned until last month when the project was completed and The Little Jungle finally opened its doors again.

Photo by Abdulghani Abulkareem

The Little Jungle is a mini zoo with various exhibits holding a variety of animals including giraffes, zebras, kangaroos, and even weirdly, a Pomeranians exhibit. I haven’t passed by the place but I had a couple of friends visit during Eid and one complained about the terrible organization while the other told me it’s no better than our main zoo but can still be fun for really young children.

Photo by Khaled Aljeeran

The weather has gotten pretty warm but they are opening in the evenings from 4PM to 9PM so it still is doable. Entrance is 2.5KD per person and they have a bunch of videos and highlights on their Instagram account that showcases the zoo @littlejunglekw. If you want to visit the place, here is their location on Google Maps

If you’ve been there let us know about your experience in the comments.

I hadn’t heard of Duck Park until a few days ago when I stumbled on an old post by @natureinkuwait. It’s a small park located in Shaab that has a small pond and ducks!

The photos on Instagram looked a lot nicer than it was in reality but that mostly has to do with the fact there wasn’t any water in the pond when I passed by. Not sure why there’s no water but there were a few ducks there just playing in the mud. The park overall is pretty nice, small but looks well taken care of and features a climbing rope section for kids along with some swings and toys. There are also birdhouses scattered around including a pretty large one with multiple holes and a rooster that was roaming around freely.

If you want to pass by and check out the park, here is the location on Google Maps.

I got this video as a forward but didn’t post it since there was no way of knowing if it was in Kuwait or not. But, the local news media picked up the story, and turns out it was indeed in Kuwait. A lion escaped from captivity and was found roaming the streets before the owner found it and carried the lion back home. The weirder part is the environmental police attended the scene but didn’t confiscate the animal but instead helped the woman get the lion back into her captivity. I guess the plan to ban wild animals never materialized. Link

Update: There is some good news and bad news. The good news is the lion was actually rescued and is now at the zoo. The bad news is that the lion was found to be blind, deaf, and malnourished. They are currently investigating to see if she was born like this or if something happened to her.

Kuwaiti photographer Majed Alza’abi won the Natural History Museum’s “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” competition. The competition which is held yearly since back in 1965 is considered to be one of the largest wildlife photography competitions in the world.

Majed’s photo came first in the Animal Portraits category. He had trekked for four hours to meet Kibande, an almost-40-year-old mountain gorilla before capturing the winning photograph. I had to crop the photo to fit the blog but you can check out the full photo on Majed’s instagram account @majedphotos.

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@thedodo, the super popular animal stories and animal rights instagram account just posted a video of puppies in Kuwait that were rescued by @raf.kw. It’s a feel good video and in just 4 hours already gotten 800,000 views. Watch the video above and make sure you visit and support @raf.kw

Thanks Basmah

Yesterday I dropped by the pet store Zue to check out their indoor park. Zue opened around a year ago but due to the pandemic, they had to scale things back a bit. But now they’re fully open and I think it’s such a beautiful place for dogs.

When you first walk into Zue you walk into their shop front which has a nice-looking cafe on the far right. They sell pet food and accessories for dogs and cats only and if you continue to walk into the space further, you end up at the grooming section which is fairly large and divided into two rooms, one room for small pets and the other one for large ones. The whole section is surrounded by windows that overlook the Zue park and benches for customers to sit on while waiting.

The park is why I was there, I had seen pictures on Instagram and wanted to check it out myself. It’s divided into two floors, the ground floor for large dogs and the top floor for smaller dogs. The top floor also has an area to rent out for birthday parties and when I passed by yesterday they were getting the area set up for one. The dog park is pretty huge for an indoor one and has fake hills and grass, water pools as well as obstacles and tunnels for the dogs to play with. There were large windows on the roof that let in bright sunlight and if I had a dog I’m sure he would have loved playing there especially with other dogs.

I really like the idea of the indoor park especially with how hot it gets here during the summer and also because of the lack of places dogs can go to socialize with other dogs. Accessing the park requires a membership fee which is 75KD a month for a large dog, and 60KD for a small dog. The price doesn’t increase much if you have more than one dog, for example, the membership for 2 large dogs is 90KD a month and two small dogs is 75KD a month. The membership gives you 30 hours of access a month and you’re allowed to bring one guest with you.

If you want to check the place out here is their location on Google Maps, also make sure you check them out on Instagram @zue.kw

Last month I posted about some “Cats Protection” shelters I spotted in Salmiya. Turns out they’re made by @q8wood4 and are sold for KD20 each. The shelter is 80cm wide, 50cm deep and 50cm tall, it features two openings for cats to get in, a carpeted interior, and a removable roof.

I’m thinking of getting a couple for my neighborhood just need to figure out where I can place them. It’s a very simple and useful idea, I like it. If you want to order one yourself check out @q8wood4.

Thanks Mariam

Yesterday a friend of mine had her dog stolen in Messila. Her nanny was walking the dog around 8AM and two men in a white Honda Civic with a broken front bumper stopped and snatched her dog before speeding away. According to the nanny, there was another dog in the car, a pug and there were two guys. What’s scary is the fact that two weeks ago, the same white car with 2 guys and a girl stole another dog in Jabriya.

I think thieves are going after dogs since cops don’t seem to care and the dog owners tend to offer rewards but dogs are also pretty easy to sell at the moment. I had a friend whose dog got stolen a few weeks ago, through the help of social media he was able to find the person who had his dog. My friend then went to the police station for their help to get the dog back and they laughed him out of the station (He wasn’t an expat). In the end, he had to go confront the thief himself to get his dog back.

If you have a dog, be extra vigilant for the time being. Maybe get them a collar with a GPS device or at least have your contact info on their collar.

Some of you may have watched the video that went viral yesterday of the cats being killed (I chose not to watch it), supposedly the guy in the video got arrested but I haven’t been able to find a legit source for that info. On a more positive note, I recently noticed some “Cat Protection” boxes in Salmiya around the KISR gardens. They’re scattered around the property and they seem to be placed there to offer cats shelter.

I’m curious to know if they’re testing these out to later rollout around Kuwait.

Update: Here is the link to MOI where they mention his arrest

Gatwa W Gahwa, the first Cat Cafe in Kuwait that was located in Galleria 2000 closed down a couple of years back. They were moving to a new location in Boulevard and they even changed their name to Cats Boulevard, but then Corona hit and I guess the project was put on hold. There is now another place in Salmiya called Perfect Paws where you can go and play with cats. It’s not a cafe though, it’s what the owner calls a playground. I dropped by yesterday to check it out and it’s definitely not as nice a place as Gatwa W Gahwa, but if you want to play with some cats, you’re pretty limited with options.

Perfect Paws is located on the top floor of Fashion Way across the street from Al Fanar Complex. It costs KD3 per hour to play with their cats and there are A LOT of cats to play with. It’s only by appointment so no walk-ins allowed. But, even by appointment, I’d probably hold off on passing by during the pandemic since yesterday there were 10 people in the small place playing with the cats when I walked by. If you want to visit the playground or book an hour, then head over to their Instagram account @perfect.pawsq8

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The Kuwait coastguard removed a dead whale this past weekend which was found near the Jaber Causeway bridge. This isn’t the first time that this has happened but it has to be right up there with some of the biggest ones so far.

If you have a pet and don’t have a car or are too busy to take your pets to their appointments (vet, grooming, etc), Pet Taxi is a service that can help you out. They’ve been around for two years now and they offer a few other services as well including dog walking and pet sitting. They operate from 7AM to 8PM daily and you can get in touch with them on Instagram @pet_taxiq8

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A post shared by حياكم بمعرض الخليج (@m3rath_alkaleg) on Oct 2, 2020 at 2:21pm PDT

I love random odd things and last night a friend of mine sent me a link to my new favorite Instagram account @m3rath_alkaleg. It’s an Instagram account that live auctions chickens and it’s oddly entertaining to watch. I actually stopped watching an episode of Euphoria midway and spent an hour watching some guy live auction of some fantastic looking chickens at like 11PM at night. Seems like a strange time to hold a chicken auction but the guy had a ring light and phone set up professionally and it was a busy evening with I think the most expensive chicken selling for KD300. He then kept reminding people that whoever wins an auction to pass by and pick up their chickens that evening. The whole thing was bizarre to watch but I couldn’t stop.

Not sure if the auctions take place every night but if I had a garden I’d for sure set up a chicken coop and get some fancy chickens for it. If you’re looking for some strange entertainment check the account out @m3rath_alkaleg.

Thanks Fahed

So this is a bit of a bizarre coincidence. I don’t remember what I was doing but over the weekend I stumbled upon an article about Dalal, the elephant that survived a bullet wound and abuse by the Iraqi soldiers during the 1990 invasion.

Then, randomly today, a friend mine who works at the zoo messaged me so I decided to ask her if she knew how the elephant and other animals survived during the 1990 war. She told me it was because of two brothers and then sent me a link to a short film called “Aziza” that came out yesterday and is based on the story of the two brothers. You can watch the video above.

March 1991. Starved lions in their cage at the Kuwait City Zoo. Photo by Steve McCurry

Ali Mubarak Al-Hohti, was a 35-year-old sanitation department inspector, and his brother Suleiman, 30 was a motorcycle policeman. During the war they took care of the animals at the zoo and they called the elephant Aziza (not knowing her real name). The short film which I’ve embedded on top is in Arabic but there is a great article on the New York Times on the two brothers which you can read here.

March 1991. A loose hippo at the Kuwait City Zoo. Photo by Steve McCurry

Just one quick note, I haven’t watched the film yet but will being doing so later tonight. But, if like me you are worried there might be scenes of animal cruelty, I’ve been assured the film doesn’t contain any. So it’s safe to watch.

Thanks Tammy!