The Haifa Educational Zoo, named after the late Louie Ariel Goldschmidt, was founded in 1949 by the late educator and agronomist Pinchas Cohen, the first teacher of environmental studies in Haifa and one of the founders of the Hebrew Reali School and "Messhotetim" Scouts' tribe.
The area of the Zoo contains, among other things, a "biology institute" - a school engaged in the education and teaching of various fields of environmental and nature studies, which takes in more than 20,000 students each year from all parts of the country, a botanical garden, a library and the prehistoric museum.
The zoo is situated at the lower northern parts of the Lotem River - one the most beautiful nature reserves on the Carmel, which borders on "Gan HaEm" (Mother's Park) in the Carmel Centre. Its overall area is estimated at roughly 30 dunam.
Recently, the Zoo underwent extensive renovations due to the generous contribution of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Reali, senior residents of Haifa, who had also made several contributions in the past for the welfare of the city's residents.
The renovation has turned the Zoo into one of the most modern and advanced of its kind. Among other things, the entire old infrastructures were replaced with new ones and modern updated display cages for animals were built. No more fences and concrete walls, but rather open display areas allowing direct observation of the animals. Service facilities were also added for visitors.
The Zoo contains over one hundred types of animals, some rare, reptiles, birds and mammals, amounting to a total some 350 items. Along side the "traditional" animals, such as tiger, bear, wolf, hyena, different species of apes and grass eaters, viewers can also enjoy the impressive variety of native and worldwide snakes and reptiles seen in an air conditioned reptile aquarium, which consists of display spaces designed to fit the animals' natural living habitat. One of the new attractions is a children's petting zoo, where children can enjoy the possibility of petting, holding and getting their picture taken in the company of different animals such as goat, spotted deer, bunny, hamster, different birds and reptiles, snakes included. Another refreshing novelty is the "open" displays, which enable the general public to walk through and become familiarized with certain elements of the animals' natural habitat. These display spaces include waterfowl, vultures and lemurs - lovely gibbons that live in the wild and are only native to the island of Madagascar. Moreover, for the first time ever, live alligators can be seen in the zoo, in modernly designed display spaces that mimics the animals' natural living environment.
The zoo signposts are now modern and illuminated and include up to date information on each animal, as well as directions to all the attraction spots and different service facilities.
Additional attractions are the Botanical Garden situated at the heart of the zoo, which presents the audience with dozens of tree and bush species from both the Carmel and the country in general, as well as the Prehistoric Museum, which covers the evolution of man in the Carmel region.
Haifa Zoo has recently been accepted into the prestigious European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).
Membership in such organization enables, among other things, the transfer of rare animals from other zoos around the world and participation in major international projects for preservation and treatment of endangered species.
