Blog : Philosémitisme

Holy Land wildlife goes forth and multiplies in Africa - The once virtually extinct Saharan scimitar-horned oryx has gotten a new lease on life thanks to an Israeli breeding program.

Photo by Shay Levy/Flash90A breeding program for the once-extinct African antelope species is underway successfully at Yotvata.It's an old biblical tenet enacted by the Jewish forefather Noah: Go forth and multiply. In modern Israel, sadly, much of the country's impressive wildlife that once roamed the region, including the majestic leopards, bears and the mythological "unicorn" -- a type of antelope -- are now virtually extinct.But not entirely, thanks to Israeli breeding programs.Around 1993, the late Gen. Avraham Yoffe, the first director of Israel's Nature and Parks Authority, mounted an effort at the Hai Bar Yotvata Nature Reserve to save an African antelope species classified extinct in the wild. A breeding program for a local species of antelope, believed to be the biblical "unicorn," was already underway there.At this reserve 30 miles north of Eilat, the scimitar-horned oryx -- its Latin name is Oryx dammah -- got a new lease on life with the help of Yoffe and American-Israeli Bill Clark, an animal conservationist and licensed pilot. The hot, dry weather there proved perfect for breeding African wildlife, even though the Saharan oryx is believed never to have traveled naturally beyond the Nile's northern limits.
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