Israel
Birdwatching
At least 500 million birds pass through the skies of Israel twice a year during the migration season. In autumn they head towards South Africa and in spring they return to Europe to mate and reproduce. Israel is on the central bird migration route, which attracts many birdwatchers, photographers and experts from all over the world, from professionals to amateur nature lovers. More information here.
Dolphin Reef
The Dolphin Reef in Eilat is a captive dolphin facility located in the Red Sea. It claims to be an ecological site where people can observe, swim or dive with dolphins. However, these bottlenose dolphins are confined in a small bay of very shallow water and forced to interact with people and carry out totally unnatural activities. For more information, consult here and here.
Stray animals
There are large numbers of stray animals in Israel, which often live in very bad conditions. The stray cat and dog populations are controlled by unregulated culling which usually involves very cruel methods. If you find these animals, you can help them by giving them some food or water, but avoiding close contact in order to prevent contagious illnesses. Click here for more information.
Veganism
According to several studies and surveys, Israel is rapidly becoming the country with the largest number of vegans and vegetarians and which has the widest range of products, supermarkets and restaurants in the world for people who follow this diet.
Approximately 1 out of 8 million people who inhabit the country are vegan and another 13% of the population is thinking about stopping eating meat and becoming vegetarian or vegan. At the end of 2013, one of Israel's most important economic magazines indicated that the dairy industry had suffered another fall in November, with sales falling between 4% and 7% for several of its products. Another important economic magazine, The Marker, has spoken about the movement towards a vegan lifestyle and healthier eating habits. The same article detailed how the market is responding to these new preferences and that many of the most important supermarket chains and restaurants had already decided to meet the requests of their customers. More information.
Here is a list of local NGOs that can be contacted in case you want to make a donation, a complaint or find an animal that needs help in Israel:
Jerusalem Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals
The Society for the Prevention of cruelty to animals
The Israel Animal Defense Force
CHAI, Concern for helping animals in Israel
The Israeli Primate Sanctuary Foundation IPSF
Safe Haven For Donkeys in the Holy Land
