The Biblical Zoo

Although we knew of the existence of the Biblical Zoo since near our arrival in Jerusalem, it went on our list of "must see" places once we read an article about it in our Hebrew Ulpan book.

Having discovered that the zoo was open until the late time of 7 p.m., Matt and I hopped in a taxi this afternoon and arrived at the zoo. No one else we have talked to has been to the zoo, so we weren't quite sure what to expect.

It turns out that the zoo is a very decent size and has some lovely exhibits. They have many birds and monkeys, but they also have snakes, giraffes, elephants, lions, and rhinos.

Most of the habitats have a natural feel to them (rather than the concrete-slab look of 1980s zoo enclosures) and a few even let you get up close and personal with animals by allowing you within the enclosures (however, this is not done on the lion habitat).

All the signs were in both Hebrew and English, which was wonderful. That way we could read about all the wonderful animals. We even saw two pygmy marmosets - the smallest monkeys in the world. They were adorable!

Thank goodness we brought our camera; so many cute and interesting animals!