FW:Animal victims of Afghan conflict

[Guest guest]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1695000/1695169.stm

 

BBC News

Thursday, 6 December, 2001, 13:11 GMT

Animal victims of Afghan conflict

 

Marjan is one of the only animals still residing in

Kabul zoo. Thick chapters of history have passed

before the eyes of the 48-year-old lion, and he has

his own story to tell too.

 

On a fateful day six years ago, the elderly beast

tinkered with an object thrown into his pen. Seconds

later he lay wounded by a blast which brutally cut

through his handsome face.

 

The grenade was a gift of vengeance from a soldier

whose brother had been killed by Marjan.

 

Just days before he had been visited by a fool-hardy

Afghan who climbed into his compound.

 

The lion peacefully eyed the trespasser for several

minutes, but his mood changed when the visitor stroked

his playmate lionness.

 

Marjan lashed out at the man and caught him by the

neck, injuring his head. The man died from his wounds

the same day.

 

Miserable life

 

The lion lay motionless against the far wall of his

home when I visited him. As if expecting me he had put

his remaining handsome features on show, the deformed

side of his face hidden away.

 

But as he let loose a soporific yawn his wounds became

visible. The grenade had resulted in lasting damage to

the beast, blowing out his teeth, destroying his sense

of smell and his vision.

 

But these are not his only woes. A lack of food has

weakened the veteran of Kabul zoo, and his ragged

paces as he stumbled across his pen added to the

miserable picture of his life.

 

" We did have two lions, but two years ago Marjan's

playmate fell sick and she died, " said Shir Aga Omar,

the keeper of the zoo.

 

" We don't have the means to maintain the health of our

animals here. Vets come and prescribe pills but that

is all they can do. "

 

Animals suffering

 

This was only too apparent as I looked around the

gutted premises and bullet ridden cages.

 

The only animals which appeared impervious to their

misery-ridden surroundings were a pair of two grey

wolves which followed me from end to end of their

cage.

 

But opposite an imprisoned bear gloomily strolled

around, occasionally reaching up to rattle the side of

his cage. The skin on its nose had peeled away where a

deep infection had been left untreated.

 

The animals also suffered under their Taleban rulers.

One soldier was bitten by deer when a group of

fighters came to the zoo. In anger the fighter let off

a round of its Kalashnikov and left the animal dying.

 

" And our elephant, which was brought from India, was

killed during the fighting in this region, the zoo

keeper said.

 

" A very powerful rocket hit the wall of its compound

and it burned to the ground, and because of this the

elephant was killed. "

 

Human tragedy

 

The past has not just been miserable for the zoo's

animals. Akbar, a former zoo keeper, was brutally

killed by an unknown assailant two years ago.

 

" He was a very kind old man and he dedicated his whole

life to this place. He continued his work during the

worst fighting in Kabul, " said the current zoo keeper.

 

 

" Now he is seen as a champion in Afghanistan. "

 

 

 

 

 

Send your FREE holiday greetings online!

http://greetings.