Israelis have returned to vacation en masse, and some are paying the price

The arrival of spring also brings with it the return of Israelis who go on vacation, and "fly" on the roads on the way to a hotel in Eilat.

But those who pay the price are mostly the chamois and other animals that are run over, and this year more than ever.

why is it happening?

Mainly because of us (Warning: Hard photos in the article)

Ziv Reinstein

10/03/2022

Thursday, 10 March 2022, 16:10 Updated: 16:39

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Goats cross the road in the Ein Gedi Reserve (Photo: Nature and Parks Authority)

If you feel that life is getting back on track when it comes to vacations in the country - you are not wrong.

More and more Israelis are taking to the roads, traveling to the desert, to the north, to hotels and camping.

But those who are paying the price for this return to routine are the animals, and especially the goats in the Judean Desert - which are being overrun this year in quantities we have not seen before.

Nearly 40 percent of the crashes in the last ten years have happened in the last two years!

In fact, in all of 2019 only two goats were run over.

In 2020, there were zero cases of trampling.

But in 2021 we have already counted nine cases of trampling and by 2022 we already have 7 cases of trampling of goats, and we have not yet finished the first quarter.

Why is this happening especially this year?

The cause is only related to humans.

More on Walla!

And thanks to Corona: a drop of more than 50% in the trampling of animals on the roads

To the full article

Most of the trampling takes place on Road 90. Yael Dros (Photo: Nature and Parks Authority)

Israelis "fly" on the road - and goats pay the price (Photo: Nature and Parks Authority)

Data on animals run over in 2019 in Israel (Photo: Nature and Parks Authority)

"Most trampling happens on Thursdays"

The chamois used to see almost no people or cars during the Corona period, due to closures and a minority of hikers, and now that Israelis have returned to the roads, they do so en masse and also drive very fast on the road, especially Route 90. "Most trampling (25 percent) happens on weekends On Thursdays, when people fly on the road to Eilat and rush to the hotel, "explains Dudi Greenbaum, director of the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve at the Nature and Parks Authority, in a conversation with Walla!

Tourism.

He says that every year during this period, when the surface runoff of rain reaches the road, it causes vegetation to grow on the sides of the road - causing goats to come to the road to look for food, because in the mountains where they live more arid, dry and sparse.

"Hikers travel at a very high speed and do not see the chamois coming to eat and crossing the road," he explains.

So far, 11 goats have been run over, and the hand is still tilted, unfortunately.

"The peak of activity at the Dead Sea is still ahead of us," Greenbaum adds, and soon the yeshiva students will go on leave, followed by the entire nation of Israel. "According to Greenbaum, there are very large herds between Ein Gedi and Einot Tzukim north of the reserve, and most of the trampling is in this area. Going

back to feeding points. "

Greenbaum adds that in this spring season the goats leave occasionally to eat and drink, then return to

them

His, and his sentence is decisive. "

More on Walla!

Finally a little justice: an unprecedented imprisonment for serial deer hunting

To the full article

Mothers leave the goats to eat - please do not touch the little ones (Photo: Nature and Parks Authority, Ezra Hadad, Nature and Parks Authority)

The goats have become accustomed in the last two years not to seeing cars, and are harmed by returning to routine (Photo: Nature and Parks Authority)

A spur that was run over.

144 of them were run over only in 2019 (Photo: Nature and Parks Authority)

Small mammals are also in danger from the cars on Road 90. Rabbit Drusa (Photo: Nature and Parks Authority)

Please, drive carefully!

But it’s not just chamois that are run over, unfortunately.

Many deer, an endangered animal in Israel, also suffer from cars flying on the roads.

In 2016, 116 deer were run over, and so was the number of deer overtaking in subsequent years (around one hundred plus).

In 2020, however, the year of closures, only one deer was run over.

However, the most run over animal in the country is the jackal.

In 2019, there were 379 trampling cases of jackals, followed by 199 trampling of a common fox, followed by 164 of a common badger, 144 of a spur, 110 of a common hedgehog, 102 of a wild boar and more.

Smaller creatures are also run over, like 40 cases a year of a raging snake (which is non-venomous and good to humans as it is a viper side of a viper), or a common salamander and others.

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• Goats

• Ein Gedi

• Animals

• Route 90

• Eilat