Inside the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo’s Persian Fallow Deer Restoration Project
By Chester Moore
For the Persian fallow deer, survival has never come easily.
Once common across parts of the ancient Middle East, this remarkable animal disappeared from Israel centuries ago and was eventually believed lost forever. Its rediscovery in Iran during the 1950s transformed what many thought was a story of extinction into one of hope. Since then, generations of conservationists have worked patiently to restore the species to the landscapes where it once belonged.
That work continues today.
Earlier this year, wildlife biologists prepared another carefully planned a release designed to strengthen Israel’s growing wild population of Persian fallow deer. The animals were healthy. Their release sites had been selected. Spring had arrived, bringing the lush vegetation that gives newly released deer their greatest opportunity to adapt to life in the wild.
Then the mission was delayed.
Military conflict disrupted GPS signals used to track the deer after their release, making it impossible for conservationists to reliably monitor the animals through their satellite collars. Rather than risk decades of painstaking conservation work, the team postponed the release until those systems could once again provide the information needed to safeguard the animals.
It was a powerful reminder that wildlife conservation does not happen apart from the rest of the world. Even the most carefully planned restoration efforts can be affected by events far beyond the control of the scientists, veterinarians and field biologists dedicated to protecting them.
Yet if the history of the Persian fallow deer teaches us anything, it is this: perseverance has always been the foundation of its remarkable comeback.
A Living Link to Biblical History
The Persian fallow deer is more than an endangered species. It represents a living connection to the biblical landscape and one of conservation’s most remarkable restoration stories.
“The beginning of this project is actually in the Bible,” said Dr. Shai Ben-Ami, Director of Development for the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo. “
The Persian fallow deer was mentioned in the Bible as one of the pure animals.
That Biblical significance became one of the driving forces behind saving the species after a small population was rediscovered in Iran in 1955.
“This is one of the reasons why zoos and wildlife authorities really wanted to have this specific species,” Ben-Ami said.
“It was thought to be extinct until they discovered a small group in Iran in 1955.”
Instead of becoming another tragic chapter in extinction history, the Persian fallow deer suddenly represented something extraordinary—a second chance.
A Gift Worth More Than Cadillacs
Like many remarkable wildlife stories, the restoration of the Persian fallow deer almost sounds too unbelievable to be true.
Ben-Ami shared the remarkable story of how the project began.
The brother of the Shah of Iran visited Israel to hunt ibex. Grateful for the experience, he offered expensive gifts in return.
“They asked… he offered Cadillacs. He offered cars,” Ben-Ami said.
“They said, ‘We don’t need that. We really need a few Persian fallow deer from your group.'”
His answer was simple.
“‘You helped me. Let me help you.'”
That extraordinary gesture made it possible to begin building a breeding population, but events soon threatened to end the effort before it had truly begun.
As Iran moved toward the 1979 Iranian Revolution, conservationists realized the window to move the deer out of the country was rapidly closing. Four female Persian fallow deer were transported from the reserve where they had been protected toward Tehran. During the journey, several were found to be pregnant, providing an unexpected boost to the tiny founder population. Those females were later joined by two males from Germany, creating the nucleus of the breeding program that ultimately made the species’ return to Israel possible.
Looking back today, it is astonishing to realize how much depended on those six animals.
Entire wildlife restoration programs are often are remembered for the thousands of animals that eventually roam the landscape. What we sometimes forget is that many begin with only a handful of founders—and the determination of people who recognize that an opportunity to save a species may never come again.
Bringing a Biblical Species Home
The first releases into the wild began during the late 1980s. When the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo relocated to its current site, it embraced the project as one of its defining conservation missions.
In fact, the Persian fallow deer became so important to the institution that it replaced the lion as the zoo’s official logo—a symbol that restoring native wildlife had become central to the zoo’s identity.
The work was anything but simple.
Animals were released into suitable habitat in Israel’s Judean Hills, but wildlife managers soon encountered unexpected obstacles. Packs of free-ranging dogs entered protected areas and preyed upon some of the deer before the problem could be addressed. Like virtually every restoration project around the world, setbacks became part of the journey rather than the end of it.
Today, between 150 and 200 Persian fallow deer live in the wild in Israel, and additional releases are based not on arbitrary numbers but on science.
“We decide to release according to what is the need in the wild,” Ben-Ami explained. Researchers monitor births, survival and population trends before determining how many animals should be released each year.
That philosophy mirrors successful restoration projects throughout North America.
Desert bighorn sheep restoration in Texas has required decades of careful planning, habitat management and ongoing monitoring. American bison restoration has followed a similarly patient path. Wildlife conservation isn’t measured by the excitement of release day. It is measured years later, when animals born in the wild raise offspring of their own.
The Persian fallow deer has reached that point.
And yet another challenge remains largely invisible to the public.
“When you have such a small population, that’s a big problem,” Ben-Ami said of genetics. “We monitor the breeding… we send it to laboratories… and we work with the European zoo association… to make sure the genetics will be fine.”
For Ben-Ami and his colleagues, conservation does not end when an animal is released. It continues through careful genetic management, cooperation among zoological institutions and constant scientific evaluation to ensure the population remains healthy for generations to come.
Restoring What Was Lost
The Persian fallow deer may be the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo’s best-known conservation success, but it represents something much larger than the recovery of a single species. It reflects a philosophy that has shaped the institution for decades—one centered not simply on exhibiting wildlife, but on restoring it.
Around the world, many zoological institutions support conservation through grants, research partnerships and field projects. Those contributions are invaluable. Yet Ben-Ami believes the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo has carved out a unique role by becoming directly involved in bringing species back to the wild.
“We looked it up,” he said.
“We have more than five or six different projects of reintroduction, which is very unique even in the zoo world.”
The success of the Persian fallow deer restoration reflects a conservation philosophy that now reaches from mammals to birds and even amphibians, with each project sharing the same ultimate goal of returning native wildlife to the landscapes where it belongs.
One of the zoo’s most remarkable projects centers on a small amphibian few people outside Israel have ever heard of—the Hula painted frog.
For decades, the species was believed extinct.
Ben-Ami remembers leading visitors through the zoo years ago and explaining that the frog had disappeared forever.
“I used to sit down and tell people, ‘Oh, you know this frog… it got extinct already in the ’50s. So basically we lost this species.'”
Then, in 2011, everything changed.
“One day they discovered it,” he said.
“That was a huge day. It’s like they would discover brown bears in California all of a sudden after years that they were away.”
When conflict threatened the Hula Valley, a group of approximately 20 frogs was relocated to the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo for safekeeping. The challenge facing zoo staff went far beyond simply caring for them. Because the species had effectively disappeared for decades, researchers knew remarkably little about its biology.
“We didn’t know anything about this animal. We didn’t know how big it should be. We didn’t know when they can start breeding. We didn’t know what they prefer to eat.”
The uncertainty only made the achievement more significant.
“We actually managed to breed them,” he said.
“We were the first in the world to breed this animal, and we are going to release them back into the wild.”
The same restoration philosophy extends into the skies above Israel.
Griffon vultures, among the region’s most important scavengers, continue to face enormous challenges from poisoning and illegal shooting in parts of the Middle East. To strengthen the population, the zoo has partnered with wildlife authorities to receive birds from Spain and other countries, conduct health evaluations behind the scenes and prepare them for release into the wild.
The zoo has also worked to restore Eurasian otters, another species whose numbers have declined dramatically as wetlands disappeared and waterways changed. Although that project has encountered challenges, it reflects the same long-term commitment that defines every restoration effort—careful planning, scientific collaboration and the patience to continue even when success does not come quickly.
Taken together, these projects reveal an institution that views conservation not as a single achievement but as an ongoing responsibility.
Looking Beyond Today’s Successes
Even after decades of conservation victories, Ben-Ami is already looking toward what comes next.
Among his greatest hopes is expanding regional cooperation to restore species whose historic ranges extend far beyond modern political boundaries.
“My dream is the Arabian leopard,” he said.
“My goal… is to help have some kind of connection to help this very unique animal.”
Ben-Ami believes recent regional cooperation, including the opportunities created by the Abraham Accords, could eventually allow conservationists to work more closely across borders to protect and restore species that have always ignored political boundaries. That vision, he believes, is larger than any single institution or nation—it is about preserving a shared natural heritage for future generations.
“This is the vision of a new Middle East,” Ben-Ami said.
“That’s how it should look—helping each other to bring animals back into the wild.”
Whether that vision becomes reality remains to be seen.
What cannot be questioned is what has already been accomplished.
A species once believed extinct now once again walks the hills of Israel.
An amphibian thought lost to history has been bred for the first time and is returning to its native wetlands.
Griffon vultures continue to soar because dedicated conservationists refused to give up.
Each project stands on its own, but together they tell a larger story—not simply about saving wildlife, but about restoring pieces of a natural world that many assumed were gone forever.
The Long Road Back
Earlier this year, the Persian fallow deer had to wait.
The delay was frustrating, but it also underscored an important truth. Wildlife restoration is rarely a straight path. It is shaped by unexpected obstacles, changing conditions and decisions that place long-term success ahead of short-term progress.
That lesson extends far beyond Israel.
Every successful conservation project from red wolves released in North Carolina to wood ducks restored along the Eastern seaboard has demanded extraordinary patience. The Persian fallow deer belongs among those great conservation stories, not simply because a species survived, but because generations of people refused to let its story end.
The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo has become one of the world’s leading examples of that commitment.
Its work demonstrates that conservation is about more than protecting what remains. At its best, it is about restoring what has been lost and ensuring future generations inherit landscapes that are richer, healthier and more complete than the ones we found.
For the Persian fallow deer, that journey continues with every new fawn born in the wild, every carefully planned release and every scientist, veterinarian and wildlife professional who believes restoration is worth the effort.
The Persian fallow deer is no longer simply a survivor remembered in history or Scripture. It is once again part of Israel’s living landscape, raising young in the wild and reclaiming habitat where it disappeared centuries ago. That alone makes it one of the great wildlife restoration stories of our time.
For Dr. Ben-Ami and the team at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, however, the story has never been just about one deer. It is about believing that what has been lost is not always lost forever. Whether restoring griffon vultures to the skies, breeding a frog once believed extinct or returning Persian fallow deer to the forests, each project begins with the same conviction that careful stewardship, perseverance and hope can change the future.
Perhaps that’s why this story resonates far beyond the boundaries of a wildlife reserve or a zoological park. Throughout Scripture, we encounter a Creator who delights in life, who entrusts humanity with the care of creation and who specializes in restoration. The work taking place at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo offers a glimpse of that calling lived out in a tangible way through decades of patient, faithful work. One animal. One release. One generation at a time.
Today, the Persian fallow deer once again walks the hills of the Holy Land.
Chester Moore
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