page_title: National Botanic Garden of Israel
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: National Botanic Garden of Israel / History
caption_attribution_description: עברית: ביקור במערת ניקנור בהר הצופים 2011
context_page_description: National Botanic Garden of Israel Hebrew: הגן הבוטני לצמחי ארץ ישראל ע"ש מונטג'יו למפורט, not to be confused with Jerusalem Botanical Gardens, which was originally planned as its successor, is a botanical garden located on the Mount Scopus campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It herbarium and Institution Code is HUJ. It covers an area of 25 dunams and contains 950 varieties of plants, 40% of them wild.
context_section_description: The garden was established in 1931 on the northern side of the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus by Otto Warburg, who founded the university's Department of Botany  together botanist Alexander Eig. It was the first botanical garden in the Land of Israel. The garden was a highlight of the scientific and educational work of botanist Alexander Eig who continued to teach at the university until his death. He planted the first tree in the garden. He established a program to protect the local flora.  He collected plants in  Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon, brought seedlings from 350 Cedrus.
  The garden was the first home of the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo. The  Mt. Scopus period lasted from 1947 to 1950. In 1948, when there was no food in Jerusalem, zookeepers had to hunt stray dogs near garbage dumps to feed the carnivorous animals, many of which perished. Non-dangerous species had to be released. In 1950, with UN help, the animals were moved down into the city by weekly convoys.
  The garden had been neglected over 19 years, when the Mount Scopus campus was in an enclave under Israeli control surrounded by Jordan. Indeed, in 1954 a new botanical garden was opened in western Jerusalem, near the Jewish National and University Library, on the new campus of the Hebrew University in Givat Ram. In 1958 two Israelis soldiers were killed in the garden by Jordanian ambush, also the "United States Chairman of the Commission" that came to mediate was killed in this incident.
  In 1980, it was decided to renew the garden, which was inaugurated in 1988.
  The garden is the first in the world to be recognized as an "ecological garden," designed for nature conservation. Many of the species are very rare or non-existent in the wild.
caption: Cave of Nicanor
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