Inspectors from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority collected the monkeys and took them into care.
Two monkeys that apparently escaped from domestic captivity in Lebanon crossed the border and appeared in a house in Moshav Dovev on the northern border last week. Inspectors from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority collected the monkeys and took them into care.
The monkeys were likely released due to difficulties their owners faced in raising and feeding them. In some cases, the monkeys make their way to Israel. This happened five months ago, and again only a month and a half ago, when two vervet monkeys reached Rosh Hanikra.
The most famous case of a Lebanese monkey crossing into Israel was six years ago. That monkey, named Tahtuh, took a long journey over several weeks. Unlike the monkeys that stopped at settlements near the border fence, Tahtuh reached as far as the Karmiel area.
Nura Tavor, director of the Monkey Forest in Yodfat, told Walla six months ago: “The monkey Tahtuh left Tyre, continued to the Bint Jbail area, and was picked up by Sister Beatrice, who established an animal farm in southern Lebanon called Peace Ark.”
Tahtuh, with his wandering spirit, continued on his way, escaped from the farm, reached Zar’it, and carried on his journey until he was captured by Tavor in Majd el-Kurum. A special bond developed between Tavor and Sister Beatrice, and with the help of the IDF, Tahtuh was returned to Beatrice.
Israeli soldiers at a staging area near the Israeli border with Lebanon, northern Israel, October 21, 2023 (photo credit: AYAL MARGOLIN/FLASH90)
Yisrael Sabag, a farmer from Moshav Dovev, said that the two monkeys chose to enter the shed of one of the homes in the moshav. “The homeowner was shocked to see them. It’s definitely something unusual. He gave them food, and they seemed hungry. Then he called the inspectors from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority to take them,” Sabag said.
He added that the arrival of the monkeys was an amusing incident, considering the difficult reality in the moshav. “Almost all the families have returned to their homes, and only five families have not come back,” he said. “But even though the families have returned, it’s not the same. The atmosphere here is sad; you don’t see people when you walk around the moshav. There’s no joy and no sense of community like before. It feels like everything fell apart during the evacuation period, and now it’s hard to rebuild it.”
Moshav residents describe sense of abandonment since evacuation
According to Sabag, “Next week, we won’t celebrate Shavuot, the farmers’ holiday that we always celebrated. The moshav committee approached the residents, and only a few expressed interest in celebrating.
“It’s really sad, but the feeling is that the state no longer cares about what happens here. The war is over — and that’s it. They’ve forgotten us.”
