By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – If you were a Zoo and you had an anniversary wish list, what would be on it?
Supporters of the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem found out during a Thursday, Sept. 7, luncheon at the San Diego Zoo. The two zoological gardens have a cooperative relationship.
From the most expensive item down to the least expensive, here are the Biblical Zoo’s 17 wishes for its 30th anniversary at its present location in the Malha neighborhood of Jerusalem:
$1 million to repave all the roads and pathways at the Zoo, build a road to the new Butterfly House and Israel Aquarium, and construct a bridge between the African Yard and the Aquarium.
$750,000 to renovate the African Yard, re-digging the Lake, and re-landscaping the savannah area to develop an exhibit of hippopotami.
$500,000 for a fourth Zoo train, with a designated, enclosed, heated and air-cooled carriage to provide tours to elderly visitors and Holocaust survivors who cannot be exposed to extreme weather. Another carriage would have an electric ramp to accommodate wheelchairs.
$500,000 to build a Red Sea Living Coral Reef exhibit “to educate the public about ocean conservation and to preserve these precious corals for future generations.”
$250,000 for a veterinary ambulance to respond quickly to the medical needs of zoo animals and wildlife, so they can be transported quickly from habitats to treatment centers.
$200,000 for matching funds for the Goldberg Zoo Train, which will have extra accessibility features.
$150,000 for a jellyfish breeding program at the Aquarium, including equipment, construction and personnel costs.
$80,000 to replace water filters and pumps and add temperature gauges and information screens at the Wet Side Story exhibit.
$75,000 to replace a wooden bridge and fences at the Bible Land Wildlife Reserve.
$70,000 to double the number of students participating in the Price Family Arabic Education Program, named for the Price family of San Diego.
$50,000 to renovate viewing areas and renew wooden fences and gated entry points to the Australian Yard.
$50,000 to renovate existing classrooms and to add an additional classroom at the Animal House, which is named for the San Diego Young Leadership Group and the Winnick Family.
$35,000 to train more therapists and provide more student subsidies at the Animal Assisted Therapy Program honoring the Winnick Family, Eric Marshall, Louis Alpern, and Warren Gordon.
$30,000 to empty, dredge, and clean the Ellen Barnett Lake and add some fencing. The late Ellen Barnett resided in the Rancho Bernardo/ Poway area.
$30,000 to replace the wood viewing platform and surroundings of the Furgatch Marsh Aviary, named for the late Harvey Furgatch of Del Mar.
$25,000 to sponsor a tank in the Gottesman Family Israel aquarium, the first aquarium in Jerusalem.
$15,000 to provide enrichment facilities for the monkeys on the Siamang Monkey Island.
The luncheon also featured short talks by alumni of the two zoos’ program that brings high school students who work at the Jerusalem Zoo to San Diego for more than a week to learn about operations at the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, and to go behind the scenes at other area attractions as well. They are accompanied during their visit by San Diegans of the same ages.
My grandson Shor Masori, who just this year graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, reflected on what the experience meant to him as a high school student.
“One of the most beautiful aspects of this program was the cultural exchange it fostered,” he told the luncheon group in the Zoo’s Treetop Room. “It provided us with a unique opportunity to interact with Israelis and Palestinians outside the confines and walls that are so often put between these two communities,” he said. “In a world divided by misunderstandings and prejudices, this initiative dared to bridge the gaps and bring people together in a place where differences were celebrated, not feared.”
“The experiences we shared were not merely limited to sightseeing; they were profound and life-changing,” he added. “From behind-the-scenes tours of the San Diego Zoo, where we witnessed the incredible work being done to conserve and protect endangered species, to the unforgettable night spent under the stars at the Safari Park, our time here was filled with shared laughter and shared dreams.”
He said he brought the lessons with him to UC Berkeley. “I carried with me the valuable lessons learned during my time with our Israeli and Palestinian friends,” he said. “It’s clear to me now that true understanding could only be achieved through open dialogue, empathy, and cooperation. This mindset shaped my interactions on campus, as I strove to bring the same spirit of unity and cultural exchange to others.”
Mauricio Schwartzman, a vice president of asset management at Goldman Sachs, was part of the program approximately 20 years ago. “My memories of the program are really in two categories,” he said. The first one was friendships created, he said. The second was that Zoos provide opportunities for people—no matter what troubles they are experiencing—”to focus on something different.”
Nik Bandak, the CEO of Bandak Property Management, said he also went through the program about 20 years ago. “Now I have three young boys – twin 5-year-olds and an 18-month-old, and I think the things that I have learned in the program are things that I am trying to teach them.”
“This program teaches that peace is good for everyone,” he added. “It is good for the individual; it is good for the group; it is good for the economy; it is good for business; it is good for everybody.”
More than about animals, Bandak said, the program “is about how you treat people.”
The luncheon program was emceed by Retired U.S. Magistrate Victor Bianchini, underwritten by Leonard Hirsch, and coordinated by Helena Galper, the San Diego consultant to the Jerusalem Zoo, which also is known as the Tisch Family Zoological Gardens in Jerusalem. Among attendees was former U.S. Rep. Susan Davis (D-San Diego), a longtime supporter of the cooperative program between the two Zoos.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor emeritus of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com