Article Written by Gaby Goldman for the Israeli Maarriv daily. 29th-Jan-2008

By kind permission of Gaby Goldman - Maarriv Daily

Document with kind permission from the Polish Institute Sikorski Museum(PISM) http://www.sikorskimuseum.co.uk

Another aspect to the Woytek story was Michael, a Persian bear in the polish army with the 16th Lwow Rifles Battalion. It was hoped that he and Wojtek would become companions, unfortunately they had a vicious fight which put paid to that idea. So Michael was donated to the Tel Aviv zoo in 1943, in turn they received a monkey called Kaska who spent most of it’s time teasing Wojtek.

The Tel Aviv Zoo no longer exists but for years the zoo in northern Tel Aviv was a major attraction and one of the most popular city highlights. The zoo was originally located on the outskirts of the city but as the city expanded, the zoo was gradually surrounded by residential buildings, and in 1980 it was relocated to the Safari Park in Ramat Gan.

The zoo, established in 1938, was the initiative of Dr. Mordechai Schornstein, who fled from Nazi Germany and settled in Tel Aviv. He was a great animal lover and in 1935 established Tel Aviv's first pet shop, The Zoo, at 15 Sheinkin Street. It was a great success, with the monkey starring as the main attraction - the first monkey the children of Tel Aviv had ever seen. In 1936, Dr. Schornstein participated in the Levant Fair and his birds and monkeys drew crowds of visitiors.