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In spring 1987, a novel ’’nursery’’ was observed among Nubian ibex (Capra ibex nubinana) at Avedat Canyon in the Negev desert highlands of southern Israel, where many young ibex kids occurred together within a concavity in a steep canyon wall. Ibex dams left their kids unattended at the site for prolonged periods while they foraged at adjacent plateaus and wadis, and returned only to nurse and rest. In its fourth consecutive year of existence, the nursery at Avedat Canyon was active from 15 March to 20 April, and had a peak occupancy of 26 kids and 19 adult females on 7 April. Once kids became entrapped inside the nursery, ibex dams spent on average 52 +/- 40 min in behaviors apparently aiming to ’’encourage’’ kids to follow them out of the nursery. Mothers and kids were highly excited during these bouts. Average residence times in 1989 and 1990 were 7.5 +/- 5.2 days for single kids and 14.6 +/- 5.2 days for twins. Dams appeared to attend only their own kids when they returned to the nursery, were often aggressive to presumed alien kids, and were agonistic towards other females while in or approaching the nursery. Three nursery kids fell to their death while in the nursery. No instances of communal care or allo-parenting were detected in the present study, nor have they been previously reported. Thus, we believe the site is not a ’’creche’’. Moreover, most kids appeared to be accidentally trapped at the nursery owing to topographical barriers, and not intentionally sequestered there by their mothers. The special physiography of the site and substantial human disturbance on the canyon floor probably contributed to the origin of the nursery and its continued existence.