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About Hai Bar Yotvata |
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Hai-Bar
Yotvata, located in the southern Arava Valley north of Eilat was
established to foster the breeding of animals mentioned in the Bible and
other endangered desert animals. The reserve encompasses a variety of
arid-land habitats including acacia groves, salt-flats and sand.
Hai-Bar Yotvata is
divided into three main sections: a 12-square-kilometer open area where
herds of desert herbivores live in conditions similar to the wild; a
predator center with enclosures containing large predators, reptiles and
small desert animals; and a ‘dark room’ to view nocturnal animals when
they are active.
The main animals in the
reserve are the wild Asiatic ass (individuals from this breeding nucleus
have been released in the Negev and seem to be acclimating well), the
African wild ass --the progenitor of the domesticated donkey; Arabian
oryx (whose image provided the logo for Hai-Bar Yotvata and whose
straight, parallel horns some say are the origin of the unicorn legend);
Sahara oryx (raised at Hai-Bar Yotvata as part of an international
effort to save this species from extinction); addax and ostriches.
The predators in their
special enclosures include the wolf, Ruppell’s fox, Blanford’s fox,
spotted leopard, caracal, wild cat and striped hyena. Reptiles and
raptors are also on display. Among the denizens of the ‘dark room’ are
the lesser Egyptian gerbil, Wagner’s gerbil, Sundevall’s jird and garden
dormouse, fruit bat, Scops owl and barn owl.
An informative CD that
guides visitors through the reserve in their car is for sale at the
reserve shop. Groups of visitors can reserve a tour with a reserve guide
in their own cars. Visitors tour the predators center and the ‘dark
room’ on their own.
Source: official site of
Nature and Parks
Authority (2014)
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