Herd of rheem gazelle (sand gazelle) that were re-established in this area some twenty years ago. Their population has increased as they can now feed and water themselves at stations set up by the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency. Rheem gazelle and oryx were almost hunted into extinction in the 20th Century, but thanks to aggressive conservation and captive breeding programs they are making a strong come back.
Orange dunes here line up in east – west rows over the ancient dry lake bed of Umm az-Zamul in the south east corner of the UAE. It’s very unusual to find dunes with a different color from the underlying ground, but the orange color is from oxidation of the iron minerals in the sand and the white is from the dolomitic limestone of the paleo lake bottom (this is a low point for the area, and the white salt flats still fill with water after the rare rainfall.