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The month of August in Israel is usually the hottest in the year. Our correspondent in Jerusalem went to the local zoo, to check up on the animals, and see how they are coping with the summer heat.
The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, nestled in the hills of South West Jerusalem, is home to some 3000 animals, of 300 different species, many of them rare and in danger of extinction.
Some species here, like the bear, are mentioned in the Bible, and said to have roamed the Land of Israel.
The zoo tries to make the animals' lives as easy as possible, in all weather conditions. This summer, it seems the temperatures are more comfortable.
[Shmulik Yidov, Curator, Jerusalem Biblical Zoo]:
"I think this is the most reasonable summer we ever had, in terms of temperature. It's not cold, of course, but it's not hot. We had summers much worse."
In today's temperature of about 30 degrees Celsius, the animals like to cool off in the water or shade.
[Shmulik Yidov, Curator, Jerusalem Biblical Zoo]:
"In most of the enclosures we have water ponds. Some of them just look nice, but it's very useful for the animals who like water – for the bears, the lions, even for the monkeys. If they dip their fingers or their whole body inside the water, I'm sure it eases the temperature. It's like kids going to the swimming pool. Some animals fear the water, so for them we use sprinklers or shallow water ponds which they can play a little bit with the water."
Another way of lowering the temperature and increasing humidity is vapor – a combination of water and air.
[Shmulik Yidov, Curator, Jerusalem Biblical Zoo]:
"We also tried this year to use fans, together with water, which is used in the cow industry, and that cools down the atmosphere – air combined with water. And we use it on the ...
