Aharon Shulov
Encyclopedia
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i entomologist
Entomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
and the founder of the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo.
Biography
Aharon Shulov was born in Ukraine. He was jailed on charges of Zionist activism. Upon his release in 1926, he immigrated to PalestinePalestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
. Shulov had been interested in animals from childhood. He became a lecturer in zoology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
. After earning a doctorate in Naples, he returned to the Hebrew University. He also spent time in Egypt studying the care of animals in subtropical climates.
Research
In 1986, professor Shulov and his colleague Aviv Marx founded the Shulov Institute for Science. The company produces life-saving products and pain relievers, including a life-saving antiserum to treat yellow scorpion stings which is approved for use by the Israeli Ministry of Health and marketed to hospitals.In April 2007, Shulov was posthumously granted a patent, with co-inventor Naphthali Primor, for a non-addictive, topical analgesic
Analgesic
An analgesic is any member of the group of drugs used to relieve pain . The word analgesic derives from Greek an- and algos ....
derived from snake venom. The patent was assigned to S.I.S. Shulov Institute for Science Ltd.
Publications
Shulov published several books. The development of eggs of the Red Locust, Nomadacris septemfasciata (Serv.), and the African Migratory Locust, Locusta migratoria migratorioides (R. and F.), and its interruption under particular conditions of humidity was an academic work of entomology. His 1981 The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb: 40 years of the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo tells the story of how the zoo acquired its first lion with the help of Dov GazitDov Gazit
Dov Gazit came to Israel from Baku, Azerbaijan by way of the Russian Gulags. He joined the Haganah, and rose to chief-commander of the IAF Technical School in Haifa....
.
Shulov also published articles on esters as insect repellants and attractants. In an entry in Campbell
Bruce Campbell (ornithologist)
Bruce Campbell was an English ornithologist, writer, and broadcaster. He has long worked for the British Trust for Ornithology ....
and Lack's 1985 Dictionary of Birds Shulov argued that the Hebrew word translated as "osprey" in the King James version of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
actually refers to the black vulture, Aegypius monachus.
Biblical zoo
Mount Scopus
Mount Scopus , جبل المشهد , جبل الصوانة) is a mountain in northeast Jerusalem. In the wake of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Mount Scopus became a UN protected Jewish exclave within Jordanian-occupied territory until the Six-Day War in 1967...
. Shulov's objective was to acquire animals mentioned in the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. Although many species of the cat family mentioned in the Bible had long disappeared from the region, Shulov was able to be import several big cats, and brought the first lion to the zoo. Professor Shulov served as the director of the Zoo for 43 years, until his retirement. The zoo, now known as the Tisch Family Zoological Gardens, has developed into an internationally renowned zoo and research facility, and popular tourist destination.
Commemoration
The Prof. Aharon Shulov Fund for the Study of Animals in Captivity, a joint initiative of Shulov's family, the Friends of the Zoo Association and the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, offers one or more grants each year to support studies relating to the animal collection and conservation activities of the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo. The studies are focused on any of the Zoo's fields of interest: animal welfare and husbandry, animal reintroduction, reproduction of endangered species, conservation genetics, exotic animal nutrition and medical care, and more. Researchers from academic and non-academic institutions and university students (with preference given to Hebrew University students) are entitled to submit their research proposals to the Fund.After a campaign by Shulov's family, supported by Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, as a Cabinet Minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006, and as Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003....
(then mayor of Jerusalem), a main road in the Malha neighborhood, leading to the entrance of the Zoo, was named Aharon Shulov Road.
External links
- Jerusalem Biblical Zoo The Tisch Family Zoological Gardens in Jerusalem, English
- The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo Society of Biblical Literature, Article written by Avraham Greenbaum
- Jerusalem's Modern Ark New York Times Article written by Michael Kammen, published March 6, 1983
- Relieving the Pain of Arthritis with Snake Venom article written March 19, 2006