If you would have told me that I would have used the Reviews section of this blog to talk about things other than books or documentaries... I wouldn't have believed you. Actually though, never would have thought to review places.
But today I spent the day at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, and man - what a zoo!!
Now, it was cold and rainy and foggy, so I only got to see about half the animals, but what a did see really blew me away!
So for the most part, the Zoo was created to breed, conserve and display animals that were mentioned in the bible (hence the Zoo's name). However, that was a few decades ago, and now the Zoo has grown into a zoo displaying species from all over the world, although still with a focus on North African, Middle Eastern and Western Asian species.
And so much conservation! It seemed like every species was critically endangered or threatened and the JBZ was working on breeding programs or rehabilitation programs with every species! It might be an exaggeration, but it seemed that way to me.
Parrots, raptors, and penguins! Turtles, crocodiles, and frogs. Lions, tigers and bears (oh my!). Asian elephants! All of them in some kind of trouble, and the JBZ is here to help (alongside a lot of other zoos. Props to them!).
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| Asian Elephant - Indian sub-species |
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| Persian Fallow Deer - once thought to be extinct! |
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| Black-footed penguins - one of JBZ's many projects |
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| Giant Tortoise - critically endangered |
And around every corner were signs that talked about environmental conservation! There was even the "Ecological Maze", with little signs throughout it talking about ecological concerns, like pollution, and their solutions, like breeding programs! And at the end of the maze, there's a sign about "How you can help".
Cheesy, yes. For kids? Absolutely. Educational? Yes!
Man, I feel like I could go on forever! In the rainforest building, signs all over explaining all the problems facing rainforests, and others explaining why they are important. There were also signs about the importance of "primal knowledge", which is the knowledge that indigenous people have about nature. Those signs really got to me, because of my recent completion of Ishmael (keep an eye out for the book review!).
Last thing I think I really want to point out from the zoo is their "West Side Story" exhibit. Now, this is NOT a musical (I was disappointed as well), and the Hebrew title makes a lot more sense. In Hebrew, the exhibit is called "The Story of Tippy". Tippy is a water drop that falls to the Earth in the Kinneret (aka Sea of Galilee), and moves his way through the Israeli waterways, India and Australia. And everywhere he goes, he sees how people have been destroying their water systems and the implications. And every time he learns that it's people's fault, he gets more and more bad.
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| The "West Side Story" exhibit - the story of the aquatic concerns |
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| Fish! That might be extinct soon if we don't help! |
This story is done in cartoons throughout the exhibit, along with an explanation of the problem, and examples of species of fish that are being effected.
To me, this took the cake. I might have teared up a bit, just because I was so impressed with how much the Zoo talked about all the negative impacts Israel is having on their aquatic environments. I mean, it's their zoo, but they aren't afraid to say "Hey, we're not perfect, and what we do matters."
Basically, of you find yourself in Israel sometime in the summer, and you just happen to have a free afternoon in Jerusalem with nothing to do, hop on a 33 bus and get yourself to the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo. In a past post I talked about the pros and cons of zoos, and I said that the point of zoos (hopefully) is education and awareness. There's a lot of controversy around this statement, that they don't really work that way. But I honestly and truly believe that if there is only one zoo in the world really trying hard to make education, awareness and conservation it's focus, it's the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo.
A big indicator: They only charged me half price admission because the day was rainy and cold and a bunch of the animals weren't on display. Doesn't sound like a money-grabbing enterprise to me.
Speak Loud!
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