Monkey Park (Israeli Primate Sanctuary Foundation) – Visitors Guide

Monkey Park (Israeli Primate Sanctuary Foundation) is an organization that rescues and rehabilitates monkeys in the Ben Shemen forest.

Notes:

• Do not confuse between Monkey Forest in Yodfat and Monkey Park in Ben Shemen (this place).
• If you want to find additional info about animals and wildlife, see Zoos and Aquariums in Israel‎.

Map

Monkey Park is located in Kfar Daniel, or Ben Shemen forest (not far from Ramla).

To get to Monkey Park, take road #4314 towards Kfar Daniel, and before reaching Kfar Daniel, you will see a sign for Monkey Park. You will turn to the right to a dirt road, and after several hundred meters, you will reach the free parking in front of the entrance.

Map of the area:

Directions for drivers: Link to Waze and Link to Google Maps
Directions for public transport: Link to Moovit

Interactive map of the area:

Opening Hours

The opening hours of the box office are:

Weekdays and Saturdays: 10:00 – 15:00.
Friday: 10:00 – 14:00.

And you can stay up to two hours at the park after the box office closes. Thus you can purchase tickets for 15:00 on Saturday and stay there till 17:00.

You can purchase tickets at the official website for a specific time.

Entrance Fee

The price is 48 NIS per adult/child.

Notes:

• Everyone aged two years old and above has to purchase a ticket.
• Opening hours and ticket prices were updated in October 2021. In any case, recheck the official site before visiting.

Coupons

• MAX 1+1 for 48 NIS.
• Cal offers entrance tickets for 36 NIS.
• cpnclub.co.il – 37 NIS per person.
• Teachers Association – 25 NIS.

Contact Information

Phone: 08-9285888
Email: Monkeypk@netvision.net

Review

Monkey Park was pretty promising when it opened more than two decades ago. But over the years, the number of species decreased, and now there are only about ten different species (probably fewer). For some reason, the management decided to invest in a playground for children and not monkeys or educational activities. So, now they are not the best at anything (there are better playgrounds and better animal-related attractions).

Moreover, it is overpriced. At 48 NIS per person, you can find better alternatives. For comparison, the entrance to Haifa Educational Zoo is cheaper, and Jerusalem zoo is not much more expensive. So shortly, you are not getting value for money.

Israeli Primate Sanctuary Foundation has an important cause. But there should be some correlation between what people pay and what they receive. That is probably why Monkey Park has one of the lowest ratings among Zoos and Aquariums in Israel‎.

After such a harsh introduction, you might ask why we revisited Monkey Park. I had a chance to buy tickets at a significantly discounted price, so I did.

About

The Rescue and Education Center is an organization that rescues and rehabilitates monkeys. Since 1996, the center has received monkeys that the police and the authorities have seized after being held in violation of the law and under difficult conditions. They also host monkeys who left the research labs and any other monkeys needing help.

Most of the monkey sanctuary is closed to visitors and allows monkeys to live their lives peacefully. Tours are conducted for private visitors, schools, kindergartens, and adult groups in the open section. Visitors learn about the rescue center’s activities and meet some of the groups of monkeys. Children can also enjoy a large gym, an extreme sports area, a creative corner, and other seasonal activities.

The monkey shelter team works day and night to ensure that every monkey that comes to the rescue center has a good future and lives with other monkeys. These intelligent animals with high cognitive abilities deserve complex social life and developed emotions. We want you to know our monkeys as they behave. They pick up food that we prepared for them or the food they find in the area where they live and sometimes do nothing – like the rest of us! So in our monkey shelter, monkeys are not in a “petting zoo”! The visitors do not throw them food and do not touch them.

Source: official site

At Monkey Park

This park specializes in various monkeys. A unique feature of this park is that most monkeys in the park were saved (from hunters, diseases, experiments, and so on). Thus, one positive thing about this park (especially for photographers) is that most animals are not behind bars (or you are allowed to enter their cages). Thus, there are no bars and fences between you and the monkeys.

One important note is that when you buy tickets, ask about tours. Usually, you can join a short tour at the beginning of the visit. And towards the end of your visit, you must be accompanied by a guide to pass through the Squirrel monkeys area.

At our first stop, we fed the monkeys with olive tree leaves. The monkeys learned to pull the rope until they got the branch.

Here we are, just before the end, you enter an extensive territory with Squirrel monkeys. You are not allowed to go by yourself and wait for an instructor. Usually, a group leaves every half an hour.

While you wander on the premises, the squirrel monkeys jump above you on the trees. They do not seem afraid of humans and can come quite close (as close as several meters). Thus, you do not need a big zoom lens.

How Big Is Monkey Park?

The park is not big, and a typical visit will take 1 – 2 hours. Maybe more if you come with kids and make a long stop at the playground, it will take longer.

Similar Attractions

You can find Squirrel Monkeys at Hay Park in Kiryat Motzkin and Monkey Forest. Another splendid animal-related attraction is Gan Garoo – an Australian Park in Nir David. And to see a complete list check out Zoos and Aquariums in Israel‎. You can also browse the map at the top of this post for nearby attractions.

Summary

Having a place like the Israeli Primate Sanctuary Foundation is important. But from the tourist point of view, this place could be much better. Thus, you can buy discounted tickets (see coupons section above), and this way, you will feel that you get fair value for money. Or you can donate money on the official website for the cause and visit another place.

Have you ever visited Monkey Park in Ben Shemen Forest? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.

That’s all for today, and I’ll see you in future travels!

Stay Tuned!

Additional Resources

Here are several resources that I created to help travelers:

• Trip Planner with Attractions and Itineraries is the page that will help you create your perfect travel route.
• What is the Best Time to visit Israel? To answer this question, we will consider the weather, prices, holidays, festivals, and more.
• Information and Tips for Tourists to Israel will answer the most common questions tourists have about Israel (including safety, passports, weather, currency, tipping, electricity, and much more).
• Israel National Parks and Nature Reserves include a complete list, top ten, map, tickets (Israel Pass, Matmon, combo), and campsites.
• If you are looking for things to do, here are the pages for Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Sea Of Galilee, Akko (Acre), Eilat, Nazareth, Safed (Tzfat), and Makhtesh Ramon.