Impact of the Gaza conflict on zoos?

[TheFrogLady]

I know this is a bit of touchy subject for some people , and I don’t wish to start a political debate, but I am curious: how has the recent conflict in Gaza affected zoos in Palestine and/or Israel? Especially since there are lot of stories of how zoos were affected by the Russia-Ukraine war, while I have not heard how zoos have been impacted by this war. Is there information on these zoos and the fates of their animals?

 

[SwampDonkey]

The zoo in Gaza was not really what anyone here would consider a "good zoo", in fact Sky News called it "The worst zoo in the world" when it closed in 2016. It was infamous for painting their donkeys with stripes to resemble zebra after their zebra died of starvation (citation) allegedly due to the war in 2009. I understand there were a few other private menageries open to the public, but I doubt any of them are still around now.

The Israeli zoos have not been affected as far as I am aware other than being closed when the conflict first started, like many tourist sites were. The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo is probably seeing a downturn in visits due to tourists generally avoiding Israel. right now. The Ramat Gan Safari and Zoo is expected to open an expansion/renovation very soon. The former "Negev Zoo" is now the Desertarium and just opened recently after renovations, it looks pretty cool.

 

[TheFrogLady]

“Worst zoo in the world”, eh? Seeing some of those photos, it’s hard to argue with that.

Does anyone know if those private menageries were destroyed by the recent conflict, or were they gone before then?

 

[Haliaeetus]

Except the Israeli zoos (that look quite strong and well-protected) there aren't a lot of zoos in the immediate proximity of Gaza. And the only zoo present in Gaza offers a very poor collection and don't seem to be involved in any kind of cooperation with foreign parks (at best only the exfiltration of animals towards safer countries may be expected in the current state of the park).

So the impact of Israeli/Gaza conflict on zoos seems to be low, we shouldn't compare it to the situation of zoos in Ukraine since 2022, where warfare stroke many zoos and jeopardized high-valued other animal collections, think to Askania Nova...).

 

[TheFrogLady]

Except the Israeli zoos (that look quite strong and well-protected) there aren't a lot of zoos in the immediate proximity of Gaza. And the only zoo present in Gaza don't seem to be involved in any kind of cooperation with foreign parks (at best only the exfiltration of animals towards safer countries may be expected in the current state of the park).

So the impact of Israeli/Gaza conflict on zoos seems to be low, we shouldn't compare it to the situation of zoos in Ukraine since 2022, where warfare stroke many zoos and jeopardized high-valued other animal collections, think to Askania Nova...).

Thanks for the info! The reason I ask is while it’s not exactly at the top of everyone’s mind (understandably so), I sometimes wonder how these wars affect zoos and their animals. After all, animals don’t understand what’s going on, and I’m sure it’s stressful for the keepers as well.

While zoos may not have been negatively affected, unfortunately for domestic animals and possibly in situ conservation projects in that region, it may be a different story.