A rare whale shark that was a hotel attraction has been returned to the wild, the resort said Thursday, following an international campaign against the captivity. The 4.2-metre female was returned to the Gulf waters where it had been “rescued” said the hotel, where guests pay up to $7,500 US a night for a top suite.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/travel/Dubai+hotel+frees+whale+shark/2701800/story.html

Less than on hour’s drive from Dubai, that city on steroids, is a magical oasis, where desert animals thrive and have no fear of man. Fittingly, the first creature we see as the gate closes behind us is the oryx, the antelope that gave the 225-square-kilometre Desert Conservation Reserve its Arab name. That 225 square kilometres is five per cent of the Dubai Emirate’s total land area.

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http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Dubai+nature+reserve+oasis/804417/story.html

Animal rights activists target captivity of whale shark as cruel and unnecessary, but developers of South African apartheid era fame seem unperturbed.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2008/10/30/rare_whale_shark_held_at_dubai_resort_making_waves/