 |  1052132 | Jun 13, 2007 11:50am | 
When conservationist Lawrence Anthony arrived at Baghdad zoo in 2003 he thought there was little hope for the 35 starving survivors he found there. But the cages soon became a sanctuary for Iraq's animal victims .
My first instinct was to find a rifle and shoot the lot. In all my years in the African bush and in conservation, I had never seen wildlife in such wretched condition. The lions were so desiccated they could not drink. When a zookeeper got water to them, they just dunked their mouths in the trough, trying to loosen their swollen tongues. The bears, one of which was blind, were pacing up and down their cages like demented robots. The tigers, whose once-shiny pelts were now as faded as doormats, stared at me listlessly. One of the cheetah had a suppurating wound, infested with flies. In her debilitated state, it would not heal.....
environment.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,,2101151,00.html [environment.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,,2101151,00.html] |
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Conservation of Nature → Discussion