Dubai Crown Prince seals off $147,000 Mercedes to save bird's nest, shares viral video of newborn chicks
The Crown Prince of Dubai has been praised after he decided to cordon off his Mercedes after spotting a bird's nest on it and deciding that using the vehicle was not worth disturbing and destroying the nest.
Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum had first posted about the birds on a story on Instagram, where he boasts of more than 10 million followers. In the story, he had shown his Mercedes-AMG G63 SUV, worth around $147,000, sealed off with red and white tape inside his plush Dubai residence. He also reportedly told all his staff to stay away from the car and the general area to ensure the birds are not disturbed. In the video, which was seemingly filmed from a distance, the small nest can be seen on the SUV's windshield.
A few days later, Maktoum, who is popularly known as Fazza, posted an update on Instagram with the caption, "Sometimes the little things in life are more than enough." In a 1:20 video that has now been viewed more than two million times, the Crown Prince documented everything that had transpired since he first brought attention to the birds.
In a close-up, two birds can be seen busying themselves as they prepared the nest for their babies. Both the eggs that the birds were carefully watching over and caring for eventually hatched and Maktoum also managed to capture them being fed and groomed. Social media users praised Maktoum for showing such kindness and gentleness. "It is in the smallest and simple things that we find joy and happiness," one user wrote in the comments. "Congratulations on the blessing and connection of witnessing the beauty of life."
"Sometimes the natural love, warmth and beauty in those little things in life is more than enough," another similarly posted. "Not a truer statement, it's the little things that mean the most in life," a third commented. "Absolutely beautiful, so sweet. Stellar capture what are the chances of this happening again."
Maktoum is an avid lover of nature and regularly shares his experiences with the environment across his social media platforms. In June, in celebration of World Sea Turtle Day, a day to raise awareness about the existential threat the creatures face because of human waste, Maktoum uploaded several pictures of him posing with turtles. He also shared a heartwarming video that captured the turtles' journey into the sea from the beaches where they are born.
He is the founder of the Hamdan International Photography Award, which was launched in 2011 and offers participants the chance to win $400,000, the largest monetary prize among all photography awards. One of the award categories is Love of the Homeland, which encourages photographers to send in pictures that best capture the environment and its naked beauty.
Maktoum is also a licensed and a well-cultivated equestrian and scuba diver and won a gold medal at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014 in Normandy, team gold in 2012 and a bronze medal in 2010.