Kuwait ships food to Baghdad zoo's hungry big cats

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Kuwait ships food to Baghdad zoo's hungry big cats

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QATAR: April 22, 2003

 

 

AS SAYLIYA CAMP, Qatar - Kuwait has shipped two weeks' supply of food for

the few animals left at Baghdad's wrecked zoo, U.S. military officials said.

 

 

 

Monkeys, bears, horses, birds and camels were carted off by thieves or left

to roam the streets after cages were prised open during the looting which

followed the collapse of Saddam Hussein's rule.

 

Only lions and tigers, too dangerous to steal, were left, witnesses said.

Zookeepers warn they have not been fed for days.

 

A spokeswoman for U.S. Central Command war headquarters in Qatar said fruit,

vegetables, meat and dry food donated by the Kuwait government arrived in

Baghdad on the weekend, but she did not know if the consignment had reached

the starving animals.

 

The Kuwait Zoo, Kuwaiti government and a number of private organisations

have offered to provide long-term support for the Baghdad zoo, the

spokeswoman said.

 

 

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE