Bringing Biblical Deer to the Holy Land

We recently compiled our annual report for 2015 regarding the status of this important and challenging wildlife conservation project and we are delighted to share with you that in 2015:

-        14 Persian fallow deer individuals were released into the wild at the Nahal Soreq Nature Reserve south of Jerusalem.

-        This number included 2 females equipped with state of the art GPS tracking collars to enable more accurate monitoring in the wild.

-        In addition, 15 fawns have been born in the Biblelands Wildlife Preserve exhibit at the Zoo.

-        We were delighted to receive a video filmed by a member of the public in the Tzur Hadassah neighborhood which shows an adult male Persian fallow deer in the wild. We have been breeding and releasing deer in the Jerusalem hills for some years now. We estimate that, as a result of this conservation program, there are now upwards of 50 deer roaming the hills of Jerusalem. This video is significant because the deer is not wearing a tracking collar which means that he was born in the wild and has survived for at least three years!

-        We also hosted Israel’s first National Persian Fallow Deer Conference at the Zoo where experts from all over Israel came together to discuss strategies for the future of this successful wildlife conservation program which has brought a Biblical species, previously thought to be extinct, back to the wild in Israel.

Thank you for being a part of this effort – we appreciate your generosity and support!

With warm wishes from -

Team Fallow Deer at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo

Links:

• Video of Persian Fallow Deer Sighting in the Wild