About the project

The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo was established in 1928 as a small children’s zoo on Harav Kook Street in central Jerusalem. The zoo was founded by the late Prof. Aharon Shulov, one of the pioneers in the field of zoology at the Hebrew University. In 1941, a somewhat larger zoo was established on Shmu’el Hanavi Street and in 1947, the zoo was moved to Mt. Scopus, where the Hebrew University had a plot of land set aside for it. During the War of Independence (1948), most of the 300 animals were killed by shell-fire or died after escaping from their cages. When the war ended, and the zoo was in the hands of the Jordanian army, the Jordanians consented to have the surviving twenty animals evacuated to a new site in Givat Komuna, adjacent to Romema. The zoo remained there from 1950 until 1991, during which time it developed into a well-known and beloved attraction. The zoo closed in 1991 to begin the process of moving to its new location and re-opening as the Tisch Family Zoological Gardens in Jerusalem – The Biblical Zoo, which was dedicated in 1993 in Malcha.

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