Staff at the Gazelle Valley nature park in Jerusalem are celebrating the recent birth of two new fawns, as these cute offspring bring the number of antelope to 20.

Two years ago, when the nature reserve officially opened the Gazelle Valley nature park had just six long-legged antelope, a staffer at the park tells ISRAEL21c.

Gazelle Valley, officially known as Pri Har Valley, opened to the public in 2015. A lengthy court battle between real-estate developers and local conservationists, with the help of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and other environmentalists, took some 20 years to resolve.

Today, this green open space of 260 dunams (64 acres) in the heart of Jerusalem holds the distinguished title of being Israel’s first urban nature reserve.

Over the years, the conservationists fought on behalf of the local antelope population to keep them and their natural environment safe.

The birth of the new offspring in April is a reason to celebrate, say the nature park staff.

Amir Balaban, the Society for the Protection of Nature’s (SPNI) Director for the Environmental Protection Division, filmed and uploaded a video of the newest fawns to join the herd in Gazelle Valley.

Balaban also filmed a beautiful video of the gazelle bachelors locking horns and frolicking around.

Gazelle Valley – in addition to being a home to its own antelope herd — also serves as a rehabilitation center for deer and antelope rounded up by the SPNI with the help of the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem.

(via Israel21c)

[Photo: Yair Aronshtam / Flickr ]