The nature reserve is full of wildlife. From Shir HaShirim‘s praises of the area (4:8), we learn that lions and leopards once inhabited the region. Lions are now extinct but leopards can still be found. Jackals and wild boars are active during the night, and in the day many Hyraxes frolic along the shores of the stream since they love the sunlight. There are swamp lynxes and porcupines, Mt. Hermon field mice, rodents, and bats.
Falcons are seen flying high above, and on the ground flocks of rock doves congregate. Cetti’s Warblers, Sardinian Warblers, blackbirds, woodpeckers, Winter Wrens, and Graceful Prinias are also found. Various types of fish can be seen in the stream, among them haffaf, hillstream loach, acanthobrama, tilapia, Damascus barbell and longhead barbels. Other aquatic life includes black-shell melanopis, freshwater gastropod, crescent shaped mollusks, and snails.
Directions: Drive on Road 90 and turn east on Road 99. The entrance to the Banias waterfall area is located about two kilometers east of Kibbutz Snir, and the Banias Nature Reserve with its springs is located about three kilometers east of the Kibbutz.
