Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 133, January 2016, pp. 1-29. | Page 14

14

Following preliminary examination of the photographic evidence, other experts
also voiced the opinion that the dead animal was almost certainly a monk seal.
According to others, however, the seal‟s anatomical remains invited a different
conclusion. Faxed drawings of the skull, compared with specimens held in the
Zoological Museum in Cambridge in the UK, led Prof. Yoram Yom-Tov of Tel
Aviv University to voice his opinion that the animal was not a monk but a young
Caspian seal (Pusa [Phoca] caspica Gmelin, 1788) (The Monachus Guardian, 2004;
Khalaf-von Jaffa, 2009, 2013).
“I have no idea where it came from,” he admitted, “and can only guess that it
was discarded by some zoo. However, as far as I know there were (and are) no
Caspian seals in Israeli zoos, so it must have come from another country” (The
Monachus Guardian, 2004; Khalaf-von Jaffa, 2009, 2013).
Other experts have meanwhile reiterated their faith in the monk seal hypothesis.
A DNA analysis has yet to be conducted (The Monachus Guardian, 2004; Khalafvon Jaffa, 2009, 2013).

Prof. Dr. Sc. Norman Ali Bassam Ali Taher Khalaf-von Jaffa with the taxidermied
Mediterranean Monk Seal (Monachus monachus, Hermann 1779) at the Paulus-Haus
Museum – Deutscher Verein vom Heiligen Lande in Al-Quds (Jerusalem), Occupied
Palestine. Selfie-Photo: Prof. Dr. Sc. Norman Ali Bassam Khalaf-von Jaffa. 23.07.2014.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/50022881@N00/15400582441/
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 133 – January 2016