Who’s moving to Dubai now? Rodents!  

Dubai is a big city in the United Arab Emirates, an extremely rich country in West Asia. Desert animals live there. (Think horned vipers, gazelles, and sand cats.) And now a decidedly non-native animal has moved in: the Patagonian mara.  

Never met a mara? It looks kind of like a rabbit. It has long legs, big ears, and a body like a hoofed animal. It can grow as heavy as 35 pounds.  

Maras now roam the grounds of Al Qudra Lakes near Dubai, an area that draws tourists escaping the city. But how did the rodents get there? They belong across the globe in Argentina! 

Here’s a possibility: Wealthy folks in Dubai purchase exotic pets for their homes and farms. Maybe the growing pack of maras are escapees. In any case, they’ve survived for several years among Dubai’s sand dunes. They’ve even built a warren—an underground rodent home linked by tunnels. How many live there? Maybe as many as 200. 

Al Qudra sits at the end of a long bicycle track. Campers and others who enjoy the outdoors in the cooler weather are drawn to the area’s lakes. Some of those have been man-made into the shapes of a crescent and hearts. Maras seem to like lake living too. They sleep and eat grass in the open. None of their usual predators (such as pumas) are around to hunt them.  

Dubai’s summer temps can soar above 110 degrees. Maras are not used to that heat. But they’re making it—and multiplying fast. 

Why? God gave animals good instincts to build homes—even when they’re in a landscape in which they don’t belong.