Most residents like to go on holiday during the summer because their children are on vacation during this period.

While some of them can do so, others are unable to avail themselves of the summer holidays either due to family engagements or pressure from the office.

Animals do not like the desert, although we see some animals living here.

In addition, some species of animals pass through the desert during annual migration or when there is a sudden boom after a good crop season in the countries bordering the desert.

Major challenges

Most birds in and around places such as Dubai and other mega cities breed during spring to early summer.

However, when there is a scarcity of nesting places and lack of sufficient and right types of food, birds tend to breed late in the season.

Garry Feulner, one of the oldest American expatriates in Dubai, is considered a living dictionary on the natural history of the UAE – in particular the geology of the Hajar mountains.

He once gave me a tour in a place near the mountainous village of Khatt in Ras Al Khaimah. We walked for more than two hours to reach a cave which, during the 1990s, had the only known population of fruit bats in the UAE. More bat caves were later discovered.

Unlike insect bats, the UAE’s Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) is a flying mammal with large eyes that are used for echo-location or detecting food and predators. It is half the size of the Giant Fruit Bat, but is similar in most features. UAE fruit bats travel to far off places to get food.