Baghdad zoo gets new life
By Kathi Keys
Staff Writer, The Courier-Tribune
ASHEBORO - Restoration of Iraq's Baghdad Zoo involved the efforts of
many people from across the world.
On Wednesday, N.C. Zoo officials had the opportunity to personally meet
three individuals - an American, Iraqi and South African - who played major
roles in the restoration effort of what once was the largest zoo in the
Middle East.
The trio - U.S. Army Reserve Capt. William Sumner, Farah Murrani of Iraq
and Brendan Jones of South Africa - visited the local zoo where they made
a presentation to about 50 people, mainly zoo employees. They talked about
the slides showing the zoo's rebuilding which began in the spring of 2003
in the war-torn nation.
The N.C. Zoo spearheaded the U.S. effort nearly two years ago, on behalf
of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA), to assist with the rebuilding
of the Baghdad Zoo along with the care of animals from private zoos in Iraq.
The Baghdad Zoo originally had some 600 animals on exhibit. After the
United States began its occupation role in Baghdad, officials found 12 animals
left at the government-owned facility.
"They'd been taken as pets, sold on the black market or eaten,"
Sumner said about the disappearance of the other animals from the zoo. Two
giraffes, for example, were believed to have ended up in someone's "soup
pot."
Today, there are about 100 animals at the Baghdad facility - most from
other locations such as the exotic animal collections of Saddam Hussein's
family at nearby palaces or a zoo that was preparing to open in an amusement
park before war struck.
According to Sumner and Jones, major efforts concentrated on rounding
up animals from other facilities and housing them at the Baghdad Zoo.
At a private zoo abandoned when war hit, dead animals were found along
with live ones in small cages without food or water. Locating a food source
was a top priority as was devising methods to get water, other than by carrying
buckets, closer to the animals which included 19 lions, a couple bears and
a few tigers.
A U.S. Special Forces unit set up quarters at Hussein's eldest son's
palace where six lion cubs were born and cared for by the soldiers until
the main zoo was ready for them.
A lot of soldiers helped in rescue efforts, adopting dogs for themselves
or giving them to the zoo which once had dogs on exhibit (a slide showed
an Arabic and English sign about a beagle from Germany on display).
Relocating animals was a monumental task, sometimes taking numerous tries
and involving military equipment. Precautions constantly had to be taken
due to ordnance - including live ammunition - being stored with the animals
before the war. A massive effort was undertaken to remove 70 looted Arabian
horses originally belonging to Hussein.
Jones noted, about soldiers in Baghdad, "The military guys would
come by every day offering to help at the zoo to get away from 'army work.'
"
The military also provided medical and veterinary assistance in the care
of the animals.
Sumner, who now lives in Martinsburg, W.Va., was activated with his U.S.
Army Reserve unit in Riverdale, Md., on Feb. 7, 2003. The 354th Civil Affairs
Brigade received three weeks' training at Fort Bragg before going to Kuwait
for two weeks and then duty in Baghdad on April 14, 2003.
His original charge, as the unit's archeologist, was to address the preservation
of the country's national library, museum and standing monuments. He originally
dealt with the theft of items like museum artifacts.
Sumner described looting in the Los Angeles riots as "nickels and
dimes" compared to what he saw in Iraq. He talked about individuals
carrying entire toilets down Baghdad streets or "dismantling a building
before my eyes ... it was unprecedented."
The scope of his unit's work in Baghdad later expanded to other areas,
like the zoo, and he became known as the "zoo guy."
These efforts toward rebuilding the zoo not only involved the military,
but animal welfare officials and local residents.
The first non-Iraqi to get into the Baghdad Zoo was Lawrence Anthony
of the Thula Thula Reserve in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. South African
Brendan Jones, a game ranger at the reserve, traveled to Iraq to assist
his boss and ended up staying 15 months.
Farah Murrani, who's now deputy director of the zoo, originally offered
her assistance in May 2003. Initially used as an Arabic-English translator,
her veterinary skills were soon needed for the rebuilding effort and care
of the animals. The building housing her veterinary clinic, which she operated
for two years, had been occupied by the Iraqi government in June 2002 (it
was across the street from the Russian Embassy) and she had been unable
to open in a new location.
William Sumner returned to the U.S. last May and works as an instructional
designer of educational materials. Jones remains a game ranger.
And Murrani is in the midst of an internship with the Cheyenne Zoo in
Colorado Springs, Col., where she is gaining hands-on experience in dealing
with zoo animals.
They all helped in reopening the zoo to the public in July 2003, but
a lot of work still needed to be done over the next year.
Slides of the restored zoo show an oasis of promise - in the animals
and their care and environment - although the facility is located outside
of what is now considered the safest zone in Baghdad.
The zoo's fund-raising effort, conducted through the N.C. Zoological
Society, brought in nearly $100,000 in donations, large and small, from
throughout the country in 2003. A small amount remains to be used for the
Iraqi zoo.
More than $40,000 was also donated from other international animal welfare
groups, according to the trio, while the U.S. Army and coalition representatives
contributed $650,000 of funds, materials and supplies toward the effort.
The zoo also provided expertise assistance - through N.C. Zoo Director
Dr. David Jones and Chief Zoo Veterinarian Dr. Mike Loomis - for the Iraq's
zoo staff.
"I'm very proud of all three of you and the various people associated
with the project," David Jones said about the leadership shown in addressing
the care of animals in Iraq.
That same leadership is not in place at the smaller Kabul Zoo in Afghanistan
where, according to Jones, the reconstruction effort is about half completed.
The zoo also began a fund-raising effort for that zoo in December 2001,
raising more than $500,000. Much of the money is still being held until
leadership is in place.
Copyright 2002, Stephens Media Group
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