Chai Park, Zoo in Kiryat Motzkin, Israel.
Chai Park is a zoo and learning centre on a 100-dunam site in Kiryat Motzkin, operating since 2002. Its grounds hold more than 1,000 animals in displays and breeding houses built to resemble their natural surroundings, among them Asian elephants Pola and Lola, a reticulated giraffe, orangutans and Humboldt penguins. The complex also contains a swan lake, a children's playground, an open-air amphitheatre called AmphiPark, inflatable park and toddler rides, snack stands and a restaurant.
Chai Park opened in 2002 on 100 dunams in Kiryat Motzkin. In January 2021 its director Yigal Fedida was sentenced to 16 months in prison and a fine for bribery, and was removed from managing the zoo. After a 2021 Haifa court petition by the animal welfare group Let Animals Live, the zoo began adding shade and enlarging enclosures, and pony and camel rides stopped in 2022.
The open-air Amphipark stages annual events, among them Independence Day performances and the graduation ceremony of ORT Kiryat Motzkin high school. The zoo is recognised as a tourist site by the Israeli Government Tourism Company and belongs to the Western Galilee tourism association and to Israeli, European, Russian and world zoo organisations. Lion cubs rescued from smuggling in April 2025 were named after soldiers and civilians killed in the Iron Swords war.
The 100-dunam grounds combine the zoo with a children's playground, the open-air Amphipark theatre, a swan lake, shaded seating corners, inflatables, a toddlers' luna park, snack stands and a restaurant. Entry to the luna park costs extra, and an electric train circles the zoo for parents and children. The site is recognised as a tourist site by the Israeli Government Tourism Corporation.
The zoo holds more than 1,000 animals, among them two Asian elephants, Paula and Lola, that came from the Ramat Gan Safari. A group of 25 penguins arrived in 2006, and six more joined the 18 remaining in 2014. In July 2025 a lion display called "Am Kolav" opened for six cubs rescued after being smuggled into the country.
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