Braving a biting late spring wind, hundreds of people turned out for the March 30 grand opening of the city’s new urban nature park at Gazelle Valley – the only one of its kind in Israel.

Bordered on all sides by major traffic thoroughfares and dense residential housing, Gazelle Valley (“Emek HaTzvaim” in Hebrew) stretches over 62 acres. A herd of wild gazelles has long made its home in this unlikely refuge in southwest Jerusalem as the surrounding development effectively penned in the gentle beasts.

The newly opened nature reserve – with certain off-limits areas devoted to the revitalized herd — has five natural and manmade ponds, walking trails and bicycle paths, two flowing streams, bird and rodent watching stations, an arbor, a manmade island accessed via wooden bridges, and signposts describing its many plant and animal inhabitants.

A visitor center with a “green roof” offers binoculars, mats and deck chairs on loan, and visitors can sign up for guided group nature tours. In the future, the center will sell ready-to-eat picnic baskets as well. (via Israel21c)

[Photo: IBA News VOD / YouTube ]