COVID-19 lockdown a lonely time for Jerusalem zoo animals

A sprawling site in Jerusalem, the zoo contains a wide variety of animals

Last updated: February 01, 2021 | 16:47

Reuters and compiled by Balaram Menon, Senior Web Editor

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Peering through enclosure windows, they were a popular source of entertainment at Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo. | Above: A Persian Leopard rests in his living area in the zoo.

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But the human visitors haven't been around for a month, since the start of a national coronavirus lockdown, and the animals miss staring at them, zoo keepers say.

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"They are sitting above, they are playing with each other," Nili Avni-Magen, the zoo's head veterinarian, said at the primates' enclosure.

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"We are trying to do enrichments but they are missing the visitors in the big front window," says Nili.

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A sprawling site in Jerusalem, the zoo contains a wide variety of animals but gives pride of place to species mentioned in the bible.

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With no visitors around, the animals must make do with interacting with their keepers, who are busy feeding and tending to deers, kangaroos, zebras and elephants.

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"They are really missing it," Avni-Magen said about the daily interaction with visitors. "They are sitting and waiting that the zoo will open again."

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The lions, however, seem to be an exception, sidling closer to their keepers and the front areas of their compound now that the crowds are gone.

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"They feel more secure when they see less people," Avni-Magen said.

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A zookeeper cleans the ground as a zebra runs around in the Biblical Zoo.

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An Asian elephant eats in his living area in the zoo.

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Pigeons stand on a visitor's deck.

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Oryxes walk in their living area.

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A zookeeper sits in his vehicle as a Persian fallow deer eats from a bucket.

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