Concurrently with publication of this story, news broke of the tragic death of a keeper at the Jerusalem Zoo, Uriel Nuri, killed by a leopard that managed to exit its enclosure. One of the youth exchange program’s participants, who was particularly close with Uriel z”l, is returning to Israel ahead of schedule accompanied by Dr. Herz. SD Jewish World extends its condolences to the Nuri family and the Jerusalem Zoo staff and community.
By Yiftach Levy
SAN DIEGO — Winding through the familiar paths of the San Diego Zoo, past tourists and exhibits, a select few followed discreet signs marked “Private Event.” For them, this wasn’t just a behind-the-scenes
experience, it was an invitation into something meaningful and rare. This gathering was a celebration of the long-running youth exchange program between the Tisch Family Zoological Gardens in Jerusalem (commonly called the Jerusalem Zoo) and the San Diego Zoo.
Since 1999, the youth exchange program has brought 4-6 Israeli teens, all of whom work or volunteer at the Jerusalem Zoo, to San Diego for ten days of tourism, social exchanges with local teens and the community, and a cultural and educational mission focusing on the good that is sorely needed when dealing with a region from which good news does not typically emanate.
The 2025 cohort of teen participants included Talya D., Aya F., Nagham H., and Yair P., accompanied by chaperones Gilad Moshe and Rushdie Aliyan (himself an alumnus of the program, having participated in 2000 at age 14).
The participants in the youth exchange program are all zoo volunteers who completed high school senior research projects (called “bagrut” in Hebrew) that advance scientific knowledge while providing the students with
opportunities to interact with peers and working professionals from different backgrounds than their own in the zoo.
the San Diego Zoo Treetops Room (photo: Yiftach Levy)
The local contingent saw Aaron K., Micah W., Jordan E., Emma C., and Shira L., with local chaperone Zeji Ozeri. Zeji is a fixture in the San Diego community, with years of involvement in the Ken Mexican-Jewish Community among other activities. Notable are his musical talents,
which he displayed live as attendees arrived and filled the room. His energetic and soulful renditions of Hebrew standards set a celebratory tone for the gathered crowd, bringing a bit of Israel to San Diego along with the visiting Zoo staff. Joining the contingent this year was Dr. Sigalit Herz, director of the Jerusalem Zoo.
The Jerusalem Zoo is itself one of Israel’s best kept secrets (at least outside its borders), a perennially successful tourist attraction that drew over 900,000 visitors in 2024 from every strata of Israel’s diverse population – Jewish, Arab, Druze, and every ‘flavor’ thereof. Around a third of
the zoo’s staff are Arabs, and there is an Arabic-language education track that welcomes families and schoolchildren from the 20% of Israel’s population in that demographic.
Like its counterpart in San Diego, the Jerusalem Zoo educates visitors about the wonders of nature and animal conservation. But uniquely because of its location, the Jerusalem Zoo also acts as an oasis and beacon of peace and coexistence in a turbulent region, bringing together young and
old from all of Israel’s diverse population to learn about each other as well as the animals. It is, as Dr. Herz said, “a bridge over troubled water.”
For the last 14 years, the Jerusalem Zoo Foundation’s chair in San Diego, Helena Galper, who’s borne the majority of funding and fundraising responsibilities for the program, has hosted a luncheon at the San Diego Zoo’s Treetops Room honoring the participants and donors who helped make the youth exchange possible.
Among the guests this year were retired Congresswoman Susan Davis, who handed out certificates of congressional recognition to this year’s participants and boosters.
A highlight of this year’s lunch was a live Zoom call and presentation from two of the Jerusalem Zoo’s stellar staff, Training and Animal Behavior Specialist Elly Neumann and Head Keeper Benjamin Fainsod. They presented an award-winning talk called “Resilience Under Fire” about
the challenges and triumphs of zookeeping during wartime. As is true for so many of Israel’s workplaces, the Jerusalem Zoo staff was heavily impacted by the events of October 7, 2023 and the war in Gaza that followed. Some 40% of the staff were called up for reserve military duty; every one of the workers attended at least one funeral for a relative or friend for weeks following the attack. One of the staff lost his son in battle in Gaza a month into the war.
On top of all these challenges, the animals under their care were also affected. The zoo itself was closed to the public for six weeks following the Oct. 7 attacks, but all its hoofed, winged, and other-limbed residents still needed caretaking. Neumann and Feinsod’s presentation included photos and vivid spoken descriptions of the care and compassion that Jerusalem Zoo staff showed to the animals and to each other in the weeks that turned into months after the initial shock. The staff engaged in extensive research on the animals’ behaviors and trauma responses as sirens, missiles, and rocket interceptors raged all around them, while also maintaining some semblance of routine in the midst of the chaos of war.
As the luncheon drew to a close, what lingered was more than just appreciation for animals or admiration for scientific inquiry, it was a deep sense of connection. In a world where unrest and division seem to run the day, the partnership between the San Diego Zoo and the Jerusalem
Zoo stands as a quiet testament to what can happen when curiosity, compassion and collaboration cross borders.
Not only does this program nurture future conservationists, it also nurtures ambassadors of empathy and understanding. As Dr. Herz, who’s spent the better part of her professional career at the Jerusalem Zoo reminded us, the zoo shows its visitors a glimpse into an alternate world that’s not part of a comic book universe, but a tangible reality when people collaborate to do good things – for animals and for each other.
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Yiftach Levy is a freelance writer based in San Diego.