Located in the sandy outskirts of Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates, the government-funded Arabia's Wildlife Centre (AWC) is home to the world's largest collection of animals and birds indigenous to the Arabian Peninsula. M any of the 45 or so species on display are on the verge of extinction and the more than 1,200 residents at the AWC include an Arabian leopard, one of the rarest animals in the world, as well as lizards, snakes, gazelles, rodents, foxes and baboons.

The AWC, and the adjoining breeding centre where many of the animals are born, are the pet project of Abdul Aziz Abdulla Al Midfa, director general of Sharjah's Environment and Protected Areas Authority.

"It's not a personal crusade," the UAE national says. "It's about our collective fate.

"We've managed to pollute the sea, drain the water basins, ruin the desert, and kill the animals, all in a remarkably short time. We're fighting a war, but one without machineguns. If we love our children, we'll must leave something behind for them."

A dedicated conservationist and self-declared "son of the desert", Al Midfa insists that despite appearances, the desert is as rich an ecosystem as the rainforests of the Amazon and the Arctic tundra and so it must be protected.

He believes that education is the best weapon to avoid what he calls the battle between mankind and the environment and hopes the AWC will raise local and international awareness about the region's diverse wildlife.

DIFFERENT KIND OF ZOO

Although there are several wildlife reserves in the Gulf, the three-year-old AWC, is a zoo with a difference.

The sheer variety of rare animals has brought AWC and Sharjah, international renown - it is the only member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria in the Middle East.

Apart from the leopards, the AWC houses Arabian Oryx, driven into extinction in the 1960s, and the Houbara bustards whose population was depleted by hunters.

Other rare animals include Gordon's Wildcats, the nocturnal feline-like genet and the Rock Hyrax, a tree-loving animal that looks like a cross between a rabbit and a beaver but is a distant relative of the elephant.

And if all these animals are not enough to attract visitors, the AWC is completely airconditioned, an advantage in a region where the summer temperature often soars to more than 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).

"We've designed the centre so that the visitor feels he is in a cage while the animals are free," Al Midfa says jokingly. "We have to adapt to our environment too."

Whenever possible, creatures at the AWC are let loose in largely open enclosures filled with rocks, pools, shrubs or sand, depending on their natural habitat.

Birds sing or build nests on trees planted beside an artificial stream inside a large, well-lit room where Hyraxes nap on top of a custom-made rocky outcrop.

Larger animals, such as gazelles, ostriches, leopards and baboons, are all located outside and can be seen from behind reinforced, mirrored glass.

The reptiles and rodents are kept in glass-fronted cages and since many desert animals are nocturnal, sections of the centre are kept dark during visiting hours, lighting up only when the it is closed for the night.

"We often rotate the animals to prevent them from getting bored and stressed," Al Midfa says. "We're primarily a breeding and research centre and the welfare of the animals is very important for us. We're not doing this for the profit."

Unlike other UAE reserves, the AWC has a relatively low profile but it attracts at least 100,000 visitors a year.

Most are students on field trips but many others come to find out more about the heritage of an area better known for containing 40 percent of the world's proven oil reserves.