Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Interview with Bakhit Thaloob (life in the desert)

SUMMARY

Life in the desert at UAE was very hard and didn’t provide physical comfort for most people. The houses at the past were built of palm trees and were naturally cooled. Additionally, mosques were cooled by six fans. Bakhit is a person who had experienced those days. He used to attend school in winter and work in summer as a writer who writes material requirements of construction sites. He lived in Naïf, Deira, which is called gold souq nowadays. In the past the people used to be awake at sunrise until mugharib and the women used to drink milk and eat dates at the afternoon together. Electricity was a way people gained comfort from but was not always available. There were two houses that had electricity and TV sets in port saeed and they welcomed people to watch the television. If people wanted to seek health treatment they should go to Al Maktoom Hospital because it was the only hospital available. Bakhit was retired as a army brigadier and he wishes and misses the old simple days and the community bond.  

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Houbara bustards summary

Extinction is a problem that the African birds (houbara) are facing nowadays. In morocco, in a town called Missour, the Emirates Center for Wildlife Propagation is trying to maintain the growth of the birds and prevent their extinction. Abu Dhabi governments are financing this project completely as while as similar centers in UAE and Kazakhstan. New plans are made for the future to open centers in China and Turkmenistan to increase the production of houbara. In order to increase the production, the centers in missour make the birds breed specially in spring because it’s the breeding season. The birds are split into two types, 10% for breeding and the rest are set free to adapt in the wild life. No birds are freed in autumn because it’s the hunting season. Birds which are freed are watched by experts using radio and satellite devices. Eventually the final result showed that the program is successful because the numbers had increased 10 times through measuring the density of birds in the wild.