Jerusalem Biblical Zoo
zoo in Jerusalem
The Tisch Family Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem (Hebrew: גן החיות התנ"כי בירושלים על שם משפחת טיש, Arabic: حديقة الحيوان الكتابية في أورشليم القدس), popularly known as the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, is a zoo located in the Malha neighborhood of Jerusalem. It is famous for its Afro-Asiatic collection of wildlife, many of which are described in the Hebrew Bible, as well as for its success in breeding endangered species. According to Dun and Bradstreet, the Biblical Zoo was the most popular tourist attraction in Israel from 2005 to 2007, and logged a record 738,000 visitors in 2009. The zoo had about 55,000 members in 2009.
History
Downtown Jerusalem (1940–1947)
The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo opened in September 1940 as a small "animal corner" on Rabbi Kook Street in central Jerusalem. The zoo was founded by Aharon Shulov, a professor of zoology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus. Among Shulov's goals were to provide a research facility for his students; to gather animals, reptiles and birds mentioned in the Bible; and, as he wrote in 1951, to break down the "invisible wall" between the intellectuals on Mount Scopus and the general public. The first animal in the Jerusalem Zoo was a desert monitor which arrived in 1940, brought by a group of British soldiers.
Early on, the zoo ran into several difficulties in its decision to focus on animals mentioned in the Bible. For one, the meaning of many names of animals, reptiles and birds in Scriptures is often uncertain; for example, nesher (Hebrew: נשר), commonly translated as "eagle", could also mean "vulture".
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Jerusalem Biblical Zoo” is zoo in Jerusalem. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Jerusalem and Biblical, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “zoo in Jerusalem” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2915736. VIAF identifies the subject as 254939645. The Library of Congress control number is nr95038354. Authority coordinates are 31.749, 35.177. 3 of 9 selected statements include explicit references; 5 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2005, 2007, 2009 and 1940.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Jerusalem Biblical Zoo”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Jerusalem Biblical Zoo primary sources, Jerusalem Biblical Zoo archive and Jerusalem research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Jerusalem Biblical Zoo”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Jerusalem Biblical Zoo” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.