Carmel Hai-Bar Nature Reserve is a breeding and acclimation center administered by the Israel Nature Reserves and National Parks Authority, situated in the Carmel mountains in northwestern Israel, within the larger

Mount Carmel National Park Mount Carmel National Park (Hebrew: פארק הכרמל, ''Park HaKarmel'') is Israel's largest national park, extending over most of the Carmel mountain range (Arabic: جبل الكرمل, Jabal al-Karmil), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Eli ...

. The Carmel Hai-Bar is the

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

counterpart of the Yotvata Hai-Bar Nature Reserve which operates in the desert. The

University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...

is located next to the entrance to the park. Endangered and locally extinct animals (which formerly lived in Israel) are bred here for possible reintroduction to the

Mediterranean forest Mediterranean forests, woodlands and scrub is a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is generally characterized by dry summers and rainy winters, although in some areas rainfall may be uniform. Summers are typically hot in ...

of northern

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Some of the species bred here are: *

Griffon vulture The Eurasian griffon vulture (''Gyps fulvus'') is a large Old World vulture in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. It is also known as the griffon vulture, although this term is sometimes used for the genus as a whole. It is not to be confuse ...

(''Gyps fulvus'') *

Persian fallow deer The Persian fallow deer (''Dama mesopotamica'') is a deer species once native to all of the Middle East, but currently only living in Iran and Israel. It was reintroduced in Israel. It has been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2008 ...

(''Dama mesopotamica'') *

Mountain gazelle The mountain gazelle (''Gazella gazella''), also called the true gazelle or the Palestine mountain gazelle, is a species of gazelle that is widely but unevenly distributed. Approximately 6,000 are left in the wild as of 2024. The mountain gazell ...

(''Gazella gazella gazella'') * Roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus coxi'') *

White-tailed eagle The white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), sometimes known as the 'sea eagle', is a large bird of prey, widely distributed across temperate Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which also ...

(''Haliaeetus albicilla'') *

Fire salamander The fire salamander (''Salamandra salamandra'') is a common species of salamander found in Europe. It is black with yellow spots or stripes to a varying degree; some specimens can be nearly completely black while on others the yellow is dominant ...

(''Salamandra infraimmaculata'') *

Wild goat The wild goat (''Capra aegagrus'') is a wild goat species, inhabiting forests, shrublands and rocky areas ranging from Turkey and the Caucasus in the west to Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east. It has been listed as near threaten ...

(''Capra aegagrus'') *

Wild sheep ''Ovis'' is a genus of mammals, part of the Caprinae subfamily of the ruminant family Bovidae. Its seven highly sociable species are known as sheep or ovines. Domestic sheep are members of the genus, and are thought to be descended from the wi ...

(''Ovis orientalis'') *

Egyptian vulture The Egyptian vulture (''Neophron percnopterus''), also called the white scavenger vulture or pharaoh's chicken, is a small Old World vulture in the monotypic genus ''Neophron''. It is widely distributed from the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa ...

(''Neophron percnopterus'')Ron Efrat, Ohad Hatzofe, Ygal Miller, Thomas Mueller, Nir Sapir, Oded Berger-Tal, Postrelease survival of captive-bred Egyptian Vultures is similar to that of wild-hatched Egyptian Vultures and is not affected by release age or season, ''Ornithological Applications'', Volume 124, Issue 2, 5 May 2022, duab065, Persian fallow deer, griffon vultures, Egyptian vultures, and roe deer have been successfully reintroduced into the wild from this facility. Formerly extinct in Israel, the Persian fallow deer now numbers approximately 300 in the wild.Werner, N.Y., Rabiei, A., Saltz, D., Daujat, J. & Baker, K. 2015. ''Dama mesopotamica'' (errata version published in 2016). ''The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species'' 2015: e.T6232A97672550. . Accessed on 16 May 2023. Research shows that Egyptian vultures bred in the Hai Bar reserve and released into the wild have similar survival rates to those born in the wild.

References

External links

* Nature reserves in Israel Protected areas of Northern District (Israel) {{Zoo-stub