Gan Garoo
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If you’re thinking about importing a koala or a joey from Australia to Israel, my advice is think again.
For a start you’ll have to convince the Federal Department of Environment and Water Resources (DEW), which issues the relevant permits and enforces the standards regulating zoos, statutory and private in Australia, and the export of Australian wildlife. Applicants, like Kibbutz Nir David’s Gan Garoo, have to prove that they are capable of looking after the animals they want to receive. If the applicant doesn’t already have the required experience with the type of animal in question then they have to participate in sending over keepers and veterinarians to Australian zoos to gain that experience.
And Gan Garoo in Kibbutz Nir David has been proving the point with a relish for more than 15 years. I’m not sure if you could fit Ayres Rock into Gan Garoo but Yehuda Gat, director and initiator of Gan Garoo, and his crew have pretty much turned the 4-acre Australian wildlife zoo into a tiny piece of Australia.
For most species the DEW won’t issue a permit unless the species is readily bred in captivity and unless there is a surplus of the species (not just animals) in all Australian zoos, or as in the case of the koalas there is an internationally managed program. The most fundamental consideration in issuing permits is the welfare of the animals after they leave Australia.
Therefore there are prerequisites to fulfil before one can import wildlife from Australia. Not only must you prove experience working with those particular Australian animals, but if you have a koala in mind you have to become familiar in Australia with the particular animals being exported.
I met Yehuda Gat a little while ago at Gan Garoo. It was just any regular Friday morning, but the place was milling with visitors as we drank coffee and talked. You may well wonder, why stick an Australian Wildlife park in the Beit Shean Valley? Its not that Yehuda is an Aussie or anything, nor is he connected to Australia through blood relatives. He told me that at first the kibbutz toyed with the idea of setting up a Winnie the Pooh Park. When that idea fell through Yehuda, who has a degree in animal husbandry and began his career as a high school teacher latched onto the idea of a kangaroo park.
As his idea gained momentum Yehuda himself visited Australia gaining experience at a number of zoos and wildlife sanctuaries. Don’t forget that one of the DEW requirements is that the receiving institution has to pay all costs, including financing staff to come to Australia for work experience, permit costs, the costs of crates freight AQIS inspection and more.
Considering all their commitment and Gan Garoo’s willingness to conform to all the ARAZPA (Australasia Zoological and Aquaria Association) requests and requirements, including financing staff to come to Australia, Carla of the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary in Victoria writes us that the relationship with Gan Garoo is a more personal than is the case with most importing zoos. “Yehuda comes to visit us quite regularly. He has a deep care and commitment to the animals he receives from us. He also continually asks for our assistance in matters of animal husbandry and even veterinary, if he can’t get the information he requires from nearby sources. I think you could justifiably say that Gan Garoo is a tiny piece of Australia in Israel.”
Yehuda explains that at first the park was called Walkabout but that name didn’t really work in Hebrew, so the name was changed to Gan Garoo, a cute little play on words for the Israeli clientele. The park is hugely popular in terms of local Israeli tourism. I noticed that myself last pesach when we camped out at nearby Sachneh. The park takes in 95,000 to 100,000 visitors a year, the majority being Israelis.
It’s a zoo and not an amusement park insists Yehuda but there’s quite a choice of attractions to choose from. There are red kangaroos and greys, wallabies, wallaroos, kookaburras, cockatoos, galahs, black swans, emus, corellas and cassowaries and flying foxes. There are mazes to lose the kids in and an aboriginal activities centre for groups and a monument for the victims of the Maccabia Disaster. There are thousands of Australian trees too. Two major attractions are the hands on free-range kangaroo petting section, unique in Israel, and a collection of koalas, rare if not unique apart from Oz, the US and the Far East.
For a start you’ll have to convince the Federal Department of Environment and Water Resources (DEW), which issues the relevant permits and enforces the standards regulating zoos, statutory and private in Australia, and the export of Australian wildlife. Applicants, like Kibbutz Nir David’s Gan Garoo, have to prove that they are capable of looking after the animals they want to receive. If the applicant doesn’t already have the required experience with the type of animal in question then they have to participate in sending over keepers and veterinarians to Australian zoos to gain that experience.
And Gan Garoo in Kibbutz Nir David has been proving the point with a relish for more than 15 years. I’m not sure if you could fit Ayres Rock into Gan Garoo but Yehuda Gat, director and initiator of Gan Garoo, and his crew have pretty much turned the 4-acre Australian wildlife zoo into a tiny piece of Australia.
For most species the DEW won’t issue a permit unless the species is readily bred in captivity and unless there is a surplus of the species (not just animals) in all Australian zoos, or as in the case of the koalas there is an internationally managed program. The most fundamental consideration in issuing permits is the welfare of the animals after they leave Australia.
Therefore there are prerequisites to fulfil before one can import wildlife from Australia. Not only must you prove experience working with those particular Australian animals, but if you have a koala in mind you have to become familiar in Australia with the particular animals being exported.
I met Yehuda Gat a little while ago at Gan Garoo. It was just any regular Friday morning, but the place was milling with visitors as we drank coffee and talked. You may well wonder, why stick an Australian Wildlife park in the Beit Shean Valley? Its not that Yehuda is an Aussie or anything, nor is he connected to Australia through blood relatives. He told me that at first the kibbutz toyed with the idea of setting up a Winnie the Pooh Park. When that idea fell through Yehuda, who has a degree in animal husbandry and began his career as a high school teacher latched onto the idea of a kangaroo park.
As his idea gained momentum Yehuda himself visited Australia gaining experience at a number of zoos and wildlife sanctuaries. Don’t forget that one of the DEW requirements is that the receiving institution has to pay all costs, including financing staff to come to Australia for work experience, permit costs, the costs of crates freight AQIS inspection and more.
Considering all their commitment and Gan Garoo’s willingness to conform to all the ARAZPA (Australasia Zoological and Aquaria Association) requests and requirements, including financing staff to come to Australia, Carla of the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary in Victoria writes us that the relationship with Gan Garoo is a more personal than is the case with most importing zoos. “Yehuda comes to visit us quite regularly. He has a deep care and commitment to the animals he receives from us. He also continually asks for our assistance in matters of animal husbandry and even veterinary, if he can’t get the information he requires from nearby sources. I think you could justifiably say that Gan Garoo is a tiny piece of Australia in Israel.”
Yehuda explains that at first the park was called Walkabout but that name didn’t really work in Hebrew, so the name was changed to Gan Garoo, a cute little play on words for the Israeli clientele. The park is hugely popular in terms of local Israeli tourism. I noticed that myself last pesach when we camped out at nearby Sachneh. The park takes in 95,000 to 100,000 visitors a year, the majority being Israelis.
It’s a zoo and not an amusement park insists Yehuda but there’s quite a choice of attractions to choose from. There are red kangaroos and greys, wallabies, wallaroos, kookaburras, cockatoos, galahs, black swans, emus, corellas and cassowaries and flying foxes. There are mazes to lose the kids in and an aboriginal activities centre for groups and a monument for the victims of the Maccabia Disaster. There are thousands of Australian trees too. Two major attractions are the hands on free-range kangaroo petting section, unique in Israel, and a collection of koalas, rare if not unique apart from Oz, the US and the Far East.
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