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| By Ynetnews November 4, 2006 |
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They say it's hard to find a good man. Apparently it's even more difficult to find a good giraffe. Just ask Ruthie, the Qalqilya Zoo's resident female giraffe.
"I don't know who named her Ruthie," said chief veterinarian Sami Hadjar, "I got her six-seven years ago. She was born in 1995, we paid 15,000 dollars to bring here from South Africa. We also brought her a mate, named Brownie."
But then, at the height of the Intifada in April 2002 the IDF launched operation Defensive Shield in the West Bank. Brownie panicked from the noise and started running around his cage hysterically, eventually banging his head on a metal rod and collapsing. "When we came to the zoo the next afternoon we found Brownie dead and Ruthie standing next to him, sad," said Hadjar.
The Qalqilya Zoo was given to the Palestinians by the Civil Administration in the late 1970's and since its establishment maintained good relations with its Israli counterparts, especially the Ramat-Gan Safari. However since the breakout of the Intifada cooperation between the establishments has declined.
"An adult giraffe costs 20,000 dollars," says Hadjar, at a loss for how to cheer Ruthie up, "who has that kind of money these days? So I called the Ramat-Gan Safari and they said 'sure, no problem, send Ruthie over for a few months, our males will know what to do.' But their condition was that they weren't to be held responsible if Ruthie became ill. We said no and asked to bring one of their giraffes here, they said no."
And so for now Ruthie must wait alone, anyone who happens to know a nice, well-read single male giraffe (no smokers please) who's ready to settle down and likes sunsets and Acacia leaves please contact the Qalqilya zoo to arrange the match.
This ynetnews article by Ronny Shaked is reprinted with permission.
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