The picture you see is the entrance sign to the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, located in the Romema neighborhood, near the old Tnuva factory, and Shamgar Street.
A bit of history
The first biblical zoo in the city was built in 1940. It was small and it was located on Rabbi Kook Street in the city center.
The first animal in the zoo was a gray lizard that was brought to the zoo by British soldiers from the coast and was intended to entertain children in Jerusalem during the Mandate period.
Later, in 1941, the zoo was moved to Shmuel HaNavi Street, on a 4.5 dunam plot, and more animals were brought in.
In 1947, the zoo moved to Mount Scopus, on the grounds of the Hebrew University, and it already had 200 animals that stayed there, aiming to draw the interest of the city’s residents.
During the War of Liberation, Mount Scopus became an enclave, and the sounds of gunfire, explosions, and fighting between the Jews and the soldiers from the Jordanian Legion disturbed the animals.
At that time there were no earplugs for animals or whispering therapy, so the animals suffered and perished.
Thanks to an extraordinary effort for that time, among fire and shells, violent clashes, and hundreds of deaths, negotiations were held with the Jordanians under the auspices of the United Nations, so that the remaining 18 animals (out of 200), were evacuated, and moved to the new zoo, an area of sixty dunams on the hill of Romema.
This is how the convoy of 18 animals managed to survive. It comprised of a lion, a tiger, a hyena, two eagles, two kangaroos and two bears.
Refugees of a war unrelated to them, because nature, as you know, has no limits.
In September 1950, the biblical zoo was inaugurated in Romema, to the joy of the city’s residents.
The zoo in Romema
The zoo was the ultimate Jerusalem pastime, a popular place to visit yearly, a destination for vacations and sabbaticals, a place that reminded visitors of the innocence and naivety of the past.
Here, one could see animals locked in small cages, animal paintings on the entrance walls next to screaming parrots and a yard with goats and sheep.
The zoo was small, and the animals were kept in small dirty cages. There was also a grove where visitors sat and ate.
There was a chimpanzee that used to throw waste at anyone who annoyed her and could remember that person on their next visit.
A poor crocodile was lying in a small green pool and would have probably preferred to be a Lacoste presenter. There were also some hippos in a small pool and a tiny outdoor area, a room with an aquarium full of snakes, an enclosure for two elephants, a cage with sleepy lions, an enclosure for some bored giraffes, and a train that used to carry children through the grove’s trees.
Peacocks roamed between the paths, and there was also a yard where goats and sheep were fed by visitors food they brought from home.
Goats with sesame on their beards from the borax grandma made were a common sight.
The zoo was also the scene of dramas.
A bear escaped from its cage and killed an innocent donkey for fun. Lions kept in cages with high fences were harassed by visitors looking for some action.
The zoo also hosted a weekly class for the children who came to feed the animals. It was also a recurrent destination for annual school trips in the city.
The Big Shus – a marketing strategy that became famous worldwide
Once a year, every visitor named after an animal got a free ticket and a 50% discount for their partner.
The zoo ticket cost 3 lira, and bored soldiers who came from the nearby Shanler camp visited the zoo in between fulfilling their duties.
The zoo in Romema operated until 1992 when it moved to the Malha neighborhood. This is when the animals’ suffering stopped as they were given spacious cages and large enclosures.
Today, where the zoo in Romema used to lie, you can find multi-tenant buildings where the best of the ultra-Orthodox population from Israel and abroad live.
If the animals had remained in the zoo, they would be speaking Yiddish with an American accent today, and they would only be fed food that had been checked by the Badaz.
This is Jerusalem – bloody fighting alongside humanitarian actions to safeguard animals. A lizard brought by British soldiers next to a fighting lion. A crocodile in a pool full of plants next to enthusiastic visitors who have never seen animals before. A zoo entrance ticket that cost 3 lira next to the luxury homes of wealthy ultra-Orthodox people from all over the world.
Shabbat shalom to the far and near
Photographer – Unknown
