The vulture, the Persian fallow deer and the roe deer return to Mount Carmel
By Israel Nature and Parks Authority
Hai Bar Carmel covers some 6,000 dunams (1,500 acres) in the heart of Mount Carmel's "Little Switzerland". If we could turn back the clock, we would discover on Mount Carmel a world of living things that is different from what we see today: panthers, roe deer, nesting vulture colonies, Egyptian vultures, falcons, and may species of night owls once roamed the area. They have all become extinct on Mount Carmel due to hunting, deforestation and poisoning.
In the 1960s, the late Uri Tzon and Gen. Avraham Yoffe established a public organization called Hai Bar, with the goal of restoring Israel's wildlife. Indeed, at Hai Bar Carmel, not only do we protect the status quo, we work to reintroduce to the wild species that have become extinct in Israel. The process has several stages: It begins with a reproductive nucleus (encouraging the animals to reproduce), continues with acclimatization, and ends with releasing the animals to open spaces.
At Hai Bar Carmel, visitors can enjoy the exciting details of this story and see Armenian wild sheep, falcons, Persian fallow deer, roe deer, vultures and other raptors. Hai Bar offers guided tours on Saturdays (in Hebrew) at 10 am, noon, and 2 pm at no extra charge.
How to get there?
Hai Bar Carmel is located 300 meters south of the entrance to the University of Haifa campus, on the Haifa - Isfiya road (no. 672) at the turnoff opposite Ha’arba‘im Grove.