ABU DHABI // A Baqala shop in Mussaffah industrial zone has lost one of its most regular customers: Megan the baboon.
Each morning and night for the past week, Megan would wait outside the shop for workers living near by to feed her.
But her free-wheeling lifestyle has taken a turn for the better after a security guard alerted Animal Action UAE, which began a search for the beast along with the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, or Ead.
“They didn’t find her but they did find tracks over cars,” said Melanie Stones, founder of Animal Action UAE.
“They also spoke to workers living in the area who had seen her regularly and found out that she had been given food by customers going to the local Baqala grocery shop for their iftar.”
But alas, Megan’s love of food was to be her downfall.
The search team gathered outside the Baqala yesterday and found her sitting on top of a lorry. From there, it was just a matter of waving a bunch of bananas and she was on her way to a new home at Al Ain Zoo.
The rescue bid began when Mohammed Alam, a Bangladeshi security guard, became concerned about the welfare of the baboon he had seen workers feed.
“He sent an email saying, ‘there’s a monkey on the loose, please help’,” Ms Stones said. “That email was shared around the Animal Action UAE group on Monday and we all thought, ‘what on Earth do we do with a monkey?’.
“We are not the competent authority to deal with exotic animals, we are a volunteer group that normally rescues stray cats and dogs.”
Ms Stones put in a call to the local authorities and the Ead came forward to help.
Keeping in constant contact with Mr Alam, who sent Google Map locations and pictures of Megan, Animal Action UAE and Ead were able to draw up a list of the monkey’s approximate movements, Ms Stones said.
“What he told us was that the monkey had appeared about five days previously and was basically scavenging in the bins and roaming the streets quite freely.”
Yesterday, Animal Action volunteer Sarah Bartlett joined the Ead team outside the Baqala.
“The team were a little nervous as catching any animal is hard enough,” Ms Stones said. “Catching an animal that is potentially wild and is scared of us is even harder and can be dangerous for both parties.
“Then catching an animal that has the ability to climb vertically – and fast – adds to the challenge.”
Ms Bartlett distracted the monkey while an experienced member of the Ead wildlife rescue team used a lasso to trap the baboon from behind.
“Sarah caught the monkey’s attention with a very old-fashioned trick of using a bunch of bananas,” Ms Stones said. “There was about 100 labourers waiting to get on the bus to take them to work so Megan had a real audience.”
An Ead staff member managed to trap the monkey without hurting her and she was quickly put in a secure transport crate.
Al Ain Zoo had been alerted and agreed to take Megan, much to Mr Alam’s delight.
“She wouldn’t have been safe where she was,” he said. “I am so glad that she is rescued and taken to a safer place.”
Dr Arshad Toosy, veterinary operations manager at Al Ain Zoo, said Megan would be kept in quarantine for a month while she underwent a thorough health check.
“Once the animal is declared healthy and free from any contagious disease, the animal will be incorporated into our collection,” Dr Toosy said.
Ms Stones said Megan was probably a former pet. “She is not a baboon that is on the endangered list as far as we know. She is a baboon that could have been brought in with the right paperwork.
“So quite possibly she has been brought in legally and has escaped. However, we don’t know any of her background and probably will never know.”
But Ms Stones said that if she had been kept as a pet it is quite likely that Megan has never had interaction with other baboons.
Everyone involved in the rescue effort is eager to see how she interacts with her new friends at the zoo.
“We will always be grateful to the Ead team whose support and professionalism in what was a challenging situation resulted in a happy outcome,” Ms Stones said.
jbell@thenational.ae
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
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10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
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Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
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SCHEDULE
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
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- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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THREE
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
