About Hai-Bar Yotvata Nature Reserve
The Hai-Bar Yotvata Nature Reserve is dedicated to save rare and endangered desert animals mentioned in the Bible as well as other rare desert animals of western Asia and northern Africa, breeding them for eventual release into the wild.
Natural Habitat
The nature reserve lies on the Yotvata salts flats that is rich in vegetation and animals, which explains the reason why this area is chosen for this revolutionary project of restoring some of the animals and reintroducing them to the Negev desert. Animals bred here include the Arabian oryx, Dorcas gazelle, Nubian ibex, addax, red-necked ostrich, striped hyena and more.
Features of Nature Reserve
The Open Area is home to herbivore animals that benefit from the acacia trees that grow here giving shade and food. The Predators Center keeps carnivorous animals in enclosures such as large predators, birds of prey and reptiles. The Desert Night Life Exhibition Hall is a dark room to view nocturnal animals when they are active at night like bats and barn owls.
Success So Far
To date, two species have been reinstated successfully. The onagers (Asian wild ass) were restored to the wild in 1982 in Ramon Crater and the Arabian oryx have been returned to the wild in 1996 in the northern Arava and the large waterways.
- Yotvata may have been one of the Israelites’ stations in the desert after the exodus (Deuteronomy 10:7). It is possible that Yotvata may be “a land of rivers of water”.
- Natural salt flats are flat expanses of ground covered with salt and other minerals, usually shining white under the sun and found in deserts. They are natural formations.
- Acacia trees are the basis for the eco-system in the reserve. They attract large herbivores as well as an abundance of insects and other animals.
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