Public education is another prime focus of the zoo.
According to Shai Doron, director-general of the zoo since 1993, "Our moral right to exist comes from educating and raising the awareness of our visitors."

Many Israelis, both Jewish and Arab, are not familiar with zoos and get "overexcited" at seeing the animals on display.
Dozens of zoo personnel man the displays during peak holiday times to stop visitors from throwing food and other items at the animals.
The animals do have a preference for Bamba, the popular children's peanut-and-corn snack (though it gives the monkeys diarrhea); other common projectiles include bottles, plastic bags, and children's shoes.
In 1997 a toco toucan was found dead in its cage next to pieces of avocado, a known bird toxin.
In 2006 a hippopotamus died after swallowing a tennis ball tossed into its enclosure.
Over the past decade and a half, the zoo staff claims that public awareness has improved.

Through visiting school groups, after-school groups, special-education groups and summer camps, children learn about and interact with the animals.
Educational activities for children, including the zoo's own youth movement, promote interracial encounters between Arab and Jewish youth.
The zoo also mounts a traveling workshop called the Zoomobile, which brings small animals in cages and a sound system carrying the sounds of larger animals to schools, hospitals, and other locations.
Public education is another prime focus of the zoo. According to Shai Doron, director-general of the zoo since 1993, "Our moral right to exist comes from educating and raising the awareness of our visitors."
Many Israelis, both Jewish and Arab, are not familiar with zoos and get "overexcited" at seeing the animals on display. Dozens of zoo personnel man the displays during peak holiday times to stop visitors from throwing food and other items at the animals. The animals do have a preference for Bamba, the popular children's peanut-and-corn snack (though it gives the monkeys diarrhea); other common projectiles include bottles, plastic bags, and children's shoes. In 1997 a toco toucan was found dead in its cage next to pieces of avocado, a known bird toxin. In 2006 a hippopotamus died after swallowing a tennis ball tossed into its enclosure. Over the past decade and a half, the zoo staff claims that public awareness has improved.
Through visiting school groups, after-school groups, special-education groups and summer camps, children learn about and interact with the animals. Educational activities for children, including the zoo's own youth movement, promote interracial encounters between Arab and Jewish youth. The zoo also mounts a traveling workshop called the Zoomobile, which brings small animals in cages and a sound system carrying the sounds of larger animals to schools, hospitals, and other locations.
Jerusalem Biblical Zoo