Starving Big Cats Are Only Animals Left at Looted Zoo

April 18, 2003

Main News; Foreign Desk; Foreign

04/18/2003

Los Angeles Times

Home Edition

A-16

BAGHDAD -- Amid the heavy looting in Iraq's capital, monkeys, bears,

horses, birds and camels have disappeared from the zoo, carted off by

thieves or simply left to roam the streets after their cages were pried

open.

Of the zoo's more than 300 animals, only the lions and tigers

remain, neglected and starving in their enclosures.

In the days since U.S. troops entered the Iraqi capital, looters

have ruled the amusement park in which Baghdad Zoo stands, roaming

the site with rifles and crowbars and making off with anything of

value.

" I am frightened to come here, " zoo veterinarian Hashim Mohammed

Hussein said Thursday as gunfire crackled. " But I have to see my

animals. They are hungry, but we have no money to feed them. "

Mandor, a 20-year-old Siberian tiger and the personal property of

Saddam Hussein's son Uday, was slumped against the green bars of his

cage, his coat hanging loose on his bones.

He looked up briefly as the vet approached, only to hang his head

again when he realized his keeper was empty-handed. Hashim Mohammed

Hussein said the animals were last fed properly 10 days ago.

" There is no government, no security ... , " he said. " We are alone

here and without help. Our animals will die. "

PHOTO: HELLO, KITTY: A U.S. soldier tries to befriend a cheetah that was

part of a menagerie at a presidential compound in Baghdad.;

PHOTOGRAPHER: Rick Loomis Los Angeles Times

Folder Name: Asia Conservation Tiger

Relevance Score on Scale of 100: 85

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