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(A7) Two two-and-a-half-year-old Persian leopards, arrived at their new home at the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem, from the Dvůr Králové Zoo, in the Czech Republic, where they were born.
The exhibition complex that was set up in their honor had been ready since July, but their arrival in Israel was repeatedly postponed over a period of six months, due to the cancellation of Lufthansa flights. El-Al eventually took initiative and brought them safely to Israel.
The excitement for their arrival was great. It is not every day that such impressive predators come to the zoo, especially such a rare species, which was last observed in Israel in 1960 in the Upper Galilee. The Persian leopard soon became extinct, due to hunting and habitat destruction. Today there are almost no Persian leopards in the world, and there are only a few hundred leopards in Iran, Afghanistan and Armenia.
When they arrived at the Biblical Zoo, the two were greeted with an exhibition area that had been specially renovated for them, with climbing and enrichment facilities for leopards, as well as areas for snoozing in the winter sun.
The two Persian leopards underwent tests and acclimatized to their quiet and warm home. The beautiful Czech animals turned out to be delicate and hesitant, until they went out into the yard, where the staff accompanied them and trained them with the help of delicious cuts of meat that were buried around.
Some interesting facts about the Persian leopard – not to be confused with the tiger:
Leopards are very fast and good climbers (they can reach speeds of 60 km/hour – 37 miles/hour).
They lie in wait for their prey, up to a distance of a few meters, without making a sound, then they leap in an instant and kill with a bite to the back of the neck.
Leopards carry their prey to the top of trees. They can leap to a distance of 6 meters and a height of 3 meters. They have highly developed senses of hearing and sight.
