What is growing in the UAE?
Date palms are spotted everywhere in the United Arab Emirates. If there is enough water, then some places can also be bathed in green. Acacia trees also grow near the mountains.
In the desert, thorn bushes and hard grass determine the flora.
An important plant is the eucalyptus, the leaves of which are used as a medicinal product. The eucalyptus tree, which can reach a size of up to six meters, is not a plant native to the UAE, but was originally imported from Australia. Without the koala bears, because they don’t exist in the UAE, although they like to eat the eucalyptus plants so much.
In the parks and the towns many trees and flowers that need to be watered but grow. Otherwise they could hardly survive in the heat. It can get pretty hot in the UAE, a country located in Middle East according to homeagerly.
Oryx antelope and sand gazelle
Many land animals have been wiped out in the UAE due to human prey. This also includes the oryx antelope. A few animals still exist, but they are not that easy to spot. However, there are now projects to breed these animals, which are then released back into the wild.
In this way, the stocks can slowly recover. The oryx antelopes are now moving around in herds of up to 15 animals again. They often get by without water for months. They have enough water to draw from the food, which consists of grass and acacia leaves.
The sand gazelle also survives in the desert landscapes that take up most of the country.
The wild goat, the Arabian tahr, which can be recognized by the horns that are bent backwards, has become just as rare. These live in the Hajjar Mountains and are rarely seen.
Desert animals
The desert landscape allows only animals to survive that can get by with little water. These include the camels, which are ideal desert animals. Gerbils and desert hares are also well adapted to the desert, as are the desert fox and sand cat. If you have gerbils at home, you can understand why they run around so much. Because they think they are in a huge desert.
Everything that flies
The Arabian Peninsula is a landing place for many birds as they move on towards Africa. Here they stop to rest. Around 500 species have been counted, only some of which are native species. Especially on the coasts there are many water birds such as herons, cormorants and flamingos, which have also been sighted in Dubai. Falcon farming is typical of the UAE. The falcon is a bird of prey that can be trained to hunt. This falconry and hunt is reserved for the budget-conscious, although there are a few in the UAE. Falconry is an old tradition in the region.
Caution poison!
Scorpios feel at home in the desert landscapes of the Arabian Peninsula and thus also in the United Arab Emirates. They come in several types. The black thick-tailed scorpion, whose poison can cause considerable damage, is particularly dangerous. Better to avoid this.
Spiders are also not uncommon. There are poisonous and nontoxic ones. Quite scary stories revolve around the camel spider, which primarily frightens people because of its size. It is so called because, like camels, it occurs in the desert. She belongs to the roller spiders. Your bite is not fatal, but it hurts and has after-effects. With her legs up to 15 centimeters long, she just looks dangerous. She’s pretty quick too. They eat lizards, birds and rats.
The black thick-tailed scorpion
Snakes and other reptiles
Of course, snakes also live in the desert, some of which are poisonous. This includes the sand rattle otter. She also likes to live near houses and is therefore dangerous. It belongs to the species of viper. However, the most poisonous is a snake that lives in the sea. The ringed sea snake is shy and only bites when it feels threatened, like most snakes by the way.
The geckos, which can also be found in the cities, and the desert monitor, one of the largest reptiles that inhabit the desert, are not poisonous.
Environmental issues
The United Arab Emirates has major environmental problems. Because of the heat, everything has to be cooled and anyone who wants to ski in the desert shouldn’t be surprised if this harms nature. Drinking water is obtained from seawater in a complex process. The big cars that swallow a lot of gasoline aren’t exactly energy efficient either.
