{"id":323400,"date":"2025-12-02T19:44:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T19:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/323400\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T19:44:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T19:44:11","slug":"it-came-at-me-without-any-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/323400\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It came at me without any fear\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

A three-day trek from the Sea of Galilee to Achziv took a dangerous turn this week when a hiker said a jackal<\/a> approached and tried to attack him in the Amud Stream nature reserve in northern Israel.Nick, an experienced hiker, said he was walking the final leg of his route on a rainy morning when he noticed a jackal lying under a rock<\/a> about five meters from the trail. He said he had already walked roughly 20 kilometers that day without seeing almost anyone.<\/p>\n

Jackal tries to attack hiker in northern Israel<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was strange it didn\u2019t run away. Usually when they see people they disappear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to Nick, he began filming the animal and immediately sensed something was wrong. \u201cI understood something wasn\u2019t normal. I\u2019m armed, so I thought if it tried to attack I\u2019d know what to do. I didn\u2019t even have time to react. Suddenly it got up and came straight at me without any fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he managed to fend off the jackal using the only object in his hand, his mobile phone. \u201cI gave it a few hits on the head with the phone and tried to step back, but I slipped and rolled down the slope,\u201d he said. \u201cI took some hard knocks, but it was better than getting bitten. I looked at the height I fell from and couldn\u2019t believe it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Tomer Masimon, a veterinarian with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, said the animal\u2019s behavior in the video suggests a golden jackal that may have been exposed to rabies. The authority contacted Nick to pinpoint the location.<\/p>\n

Officials said anyone who encounters a wild animal behaving abnormally should immediately report it to the Nature and Parks Authority hotline at *3639. If physical contact occurs, people should seek medical care and contact the Health Ministry because rabies is fatal without timely treatment after exposure.<\/p>\n

Guidance from the Nature and Parks Authority<\/p>\n

In an encounter with a wild animal:<\/p>\n

Do not try to engage with or frighten the animal.<\/p>\n

Do not attempt to catch, move or touch it.<\/p>\n

If the animal is not posing immediate danger, allow it to leave the area on its own.<\/p>\n

If the animal is causing damage, appears distressed or poses a threat, call the authority\u2019s hotline.<\/p>\n

To prevent unwanted encounters:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Do not leave food or garbage exposed in residential or camping areas.<\/p>\n

\u2022 At overnight campsites, close trash bins and avoid leaving food outside tents.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Learn to recognize signs of wildlife activity, including tracks and droppings.<\/p>\n

Authorities remind hikers to respect wildlife and keep a safe distance while traveling in nature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A three-day trek from the Sea of Galilee to Achziv took a dangerous turn this week when a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-323400","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}