Watch: Israel's zebra diplomacy with Turkey flies into action

Ramat Gan safari ships assortment of animals to help out sister zoo in Izmir

After six months of preparations, an assortment of 40 animals left the Ramat Gan Safari Tuesday on their way to the Izmir Zoo in Turkey.

Handlers spent the day gathering up a variety of animals, ranging from fruit bats to zebras, loading them into travel enclosures, and bidding them farewell in the safari’s largest-ever air shipment.

The shipment comes as relations between the two long-estranged states appeared to be on the mend after a three-year fallout over the Mavi Marmara raid, but safari staff said relations with their sister zoo have always been good and that it’s just people who let politics get in the way of cooperation.