Summary of the "Nature at Risk of Extinction" Event

On Sunday evening, March 12, 2023, the Safe Wildlife Crossings organization hosted a festive awareness event titled "Nature at Risk of Extinction." The event took place near the Museum of Man and Nature in Ramat Gan and included a photo gallery, a guided museum tour led by curator and museum director Niv Nudelman, and several lectures.

After opening remarks by the organization’s founders, Maya Sigal and Daniel Baram, Yariv Malihi from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority spoke to the audience. “I really can’t believe there’s an entire event solely focused on wildlife crossings,” he said excitedly at the beginning of his talk.

“In 1999, or maybe a bit before, I was a student of entomology at Tel Aviv University—yes, my first love is insects, not vertebrates. A student ahead of me, named Uri Shains, recruited me to protest the construction of Highway 6. We would stand every Sunday at the Ben Shemen Interchange, above Highway 1, holding signs opposing Highway 6, which would harm and kill wildlife, so government ministers traveling to Jerusalem would see the public’s opposition,” he recalled.

“Time passed, they saw us but didn’t care. The road was built. I drive on it, you all drive on it—and wildlife crossings were added to the road. When I joined the Nature and Parks Authority almost 20 years ago, I found 25 dedicated cameras on my desk, purchased by Highway 6 to monitor the crossings. So, we started monitoring the Highway 6 crossings 18 years ago and found that animals do use them. We also saw that animals avoid crossings with human activity—they need quiet spaces. Some animals can’t cross under roads—they need overpasses.”

While overpasses have been built in collaboration with Israel’s transportation authorities, Malihi admitted, “Looking back 20 years, I still found myself, just two months ago, explaining to Israel Railways ecologists why we need wildlife crossings. I catch myself thinking: Don’t you know animals get hit by cars? Don’t you know they migrate?”

Malihi also spoke about the challenges of protecting swamp cats and the critical role public organizations play in safeguarding wildlife.

Watch Malihi’s full remarks:

Dr. Ariella Rosenzweig, a veterinarian at the Wildlife Hospital in Ramat Gan Safari, discussed her work in the field. “Since its establishment in 2005, the Wildlife Hospital has treated tens of thousands of injured wild animals, some of them critically endangered species. Roadkill, poisoning, shooting, electrocution, traps, fences, and windows are just some of the hazards wildlife faces daily,” she said. “The number of roads and vehicles in Israel demands immediate and practical solutions to allow wildlife to cross safely in their habitats.”

She emphasized, “Understanding that treating injured animals and returning them to nature is not enough without addressing the causes of their injuries highlights the importance of organizations working tirelessly to create a safe environment for these animals. Beyond the moral obligation and compassion to protect wildlife, there’s also an understanding that wildlife significantly impacts humanity as an integral part of the ecosystem. Pollination, seed dispersal, pest control, and disease regulation are just a few examples of the essential roles wildlife plays in maintaining life’s balance on Earth.”

Dr. Rosenzweig elaborated on the need to recognize wildlife as full partners, neighbors, and residents of Earth, just like humans. She shared stories of animals she treated, some of which needed further care after being reintroduced into the wild due to recurring injuries.

Watch Rosenzweig’s full remarks:

Tamar Ahiron, an ecological consultant, delivered a lecture accompanied by a presentation on the technical aspects of safe wildlife crossings. “First of all, we’re talking about ecosystems. Our existence depends on ecosystems in open spaces. Open spaces aren’t some vague concept—they can be defined as patches, some more natural, some less.”

“The main issue with open spaces is that two things happen simultaneously when we develop them: we lose open spaces and fragment them into smaller patches, known as ‘fragmentation.’ This leaves less space for ecosystems to function and separates the remaining areas. Fragmentation is a global issue, but as you probably know, Israel is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, and it’s becoming even denser for various reasons. From Be’er Sheva northward, we are among the most crowded countries, and our unique open spaces and ecosystems are disappearing rapidly.”

“Linear infrastructures—roads and railways—pose specific problems. They stretch over vast areas, cut through multiple patches, create physical barriers, disrupt animal movement, and are a significant cause of mortality.”

“What are the implications and dangers of wildlife-road encounters? First and foremost, individual deaths. That’s the visible impact that prompts action. We see roadkill—it’s heartbreaking. Beyond that, populations suffer. A group that the individual belonged to starts to decline. In small, isolated populations, local extinction can occur. If it’s a rare species, it might disappear from the region entirely. Population decline eventually harms the functioning of the ecosystem, and this damage adds to other negative impacts on ecosystems, such as climate change, pollution, seasonal disruptions, fires, floods, droughts, and the reduction of food and water resources.”

Ahiron expanded on various solutions to these problems.

Watch Ahiron’s full remarks:

Roi Barzilay, Deputy Mayor of Ramat Gan, provided an overview of the situation in his jurisdiction. “We’re in one of Israel’s largest urban national parks, covering 1,000 dunams, alongside nearly another 1,000 dunams of the Safari. If we cross Highway 461, which has no safe wildlife crossings except for one large water tunnel underneath, we connect to a massive park of 8,500 dunams under development. It’s an area with many animals constantly crossing these roads, both outside and within the city. While most issues arise outside the city, even within, we face challenges: roadkill, hedgehogs eating cat food and contracting scabies—we treat them in large numbers at the Wildlife Hospital in the Safari, which cares for injured wildlife that comes to us. I believe Ramat Gan is one of the most aware cities in Israel,” he said.

Barzilay further elaborated on efforts in Ramat Gan to protect wildlife.

Watch Barzilay’s full remarks:

After Barzilay concluded his remarks, the participants divided into two classrooms where two lectures were delivered. One of the lectures, titled "Between Openness and Development: A Practical Perspective on Nature Conservation," was presented by Asaf Zanzuri, who represents environmental organizations in national planning institutions. In his talk, Zanzuri explained how to reconcile nature conservation with urban planning.

"Israel is one of the most densely populated countries in the world but is built with very low density—it's a bit of a paradox. We have little land, and we use it very poorly," he said at the beginning of his talk, outlining what Israel can expect in the coming years due to its high population growth rate.

"The Society for the Protection of Nature employs over ten full-time workers in the field of planning and construction. Full-time jobs, vehicles—everything you can imagine. Not a high salary, but still, it’s significant work. Ultimately, planning is where decisions are made, where things are decided. Poor planning automatically encroaches on open spaces. In times of crisis, it’s always open spaces that are sacrificed first. Every emergency operation in this country in the planning world—open spaces are the first to be affected," he explained, citing the Be'er Sheva area as an example.

After discussing methods to optimize land use, Zanzuri addressed the issue of ecological corridors.

"In my view, the primary goal is to avoid this altogether—to avoid new roads, push them into urban areas, transition to public transportation at increasing rates, and avoid new road development and the need for ecological crossings altogether. That’s our number one objective."

He continued by elaborating on the strategic plan for open spaces and the future challenges and opportunities expected in the field in the coming years.

Watch Zanzuri's full lecture:

The second lecture, held simultaneously with Zanzuri's, was delivered by Avihu Sherwood, founder of the "For The Wildlife" organization, which specializes in rescuing and providing medical care to injured or sick animals. In his lecture, Sherwood described the grim reality of roadkill and his efforts to save as many animals as possible that have been injured by vehicles.

“I pick them up from the road. We treat them, try to save them, and return them to nature. Ariella from the Safari’s Wildlife Hospital said it earlier: the survival rates are low,” Sherwood shared.

“I see the lucky ones recover from their injuries, rehabilitate, and return to the wild. I have many stories like that accumulated over the years, but unfortunately, they’re just a drop in the ocean compared to the number of sad stories. Moreover, I don’t have many happy stories from major highways. Most of the time, it ends in death—either on impact, during treatment, or through euthanasia. When a vehicle hits an animal at high speed, targeting the core of its body, survival chances are minimal. Even if only the pelvis is injured, the bones often shatter, causing irreversible damage that leads to euthanasia. On urban roads, where speeds are lower, the injuries are less severe, so we have more happy outcomes. But overall, the numbers are against the animals—most of them die,” he explained.

“I can’t even provide accurate numbers of injuries. I only know about the cases reported to me, which is a small fraction of the actual incidents. Most drivers don’t report accidents involving wildlife, and many injured animals are never found. Death isn’t always immediate—sometimes an injured animal drags itself into the bushes or even runs away. It goes unreported and eventually dies out of sight. The bodies are not counted. We don’t count the animals that vanish into the bushes, those eaten by predators, or the smaller creatures. The small ones aren’t counted at all. We count jackals, foxes, porcupines, gazelles, hyenas—but has anyone ever counted small animals? Nothing. Zero,” Sherwood emphasized.

“I can say for sure that there isn’t a single day without roadkill. Sometimes, certain animals grab the headlines: the honey badger, the caracal, and now, sadly, Ruti the hyena, whose death raised significant awareness. Unfortunately, their deaths serve as a stark reminder for us to take action.”

Sherwood went on to share his experiences treating road-injured animals and described how Israel's current road infrastructure serves as death traps for wildlife.

Watch Sherwood’s full lecture:

All participants left the event with a deeper understanding of the topic of safe wildlife crossings and a forward-looking perspective on the future of this critical field.