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Nothing Stops Baghdad Zoo Looters, Except Lions
Thu April 17, 2003 08:10 AM ET
Reuters


By Rosalind Russell

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Even the animals have gone. Baghdad's frenzied looting spree has left nothing untouched, and the city zoo is no exception.

Monkeys, bears, horses, birds and camels have disappeared, carted off by thieves or simply left to roam the streets after their cages were prised open.

More than 300 animals are missing -- only the lions and tigers remain.

The big cats, who were obviously too fearsome for the robbers, have been left 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," said the zoo's vet Hashim Mohamed Hussein as gunfire crackled from across the park on Thursday. "But I have to see my animals. They are hungry but we have no money to feed them."

FORLORN

Mandor, a 20-year-old Siberian tiger and the personal property of Saddam Hussein's eldest son Uday, was slumped against the green bars of his cage, his beautifully-marked coat hanging off his bones.

He looked up briefly as the vet approached, only to hang his head again when he realized his keeper was empty-handed.

Next door, Sudqa, a nine-year-old lioness, got to her feet and let out a low moan. The remnants of her last meal lay in the corner, a white bone chewed over and over.

Hussein said in all there were seven lions and two tigers, who each consume some five kilograms of meat a day.

"Five kilograms of meat would cost me 80,000 dinars ($30)," said Hussein. "And there are nine animals. I have nothing like this kind of money."

He said the animals were last fed properly 10 days ago, just before U.S. forces entered Baghdad. Spent casings of shells and bullets outside the zoo and a burned-out Iraqi armored personnel carrier are proof of the invasion.

The Americans quickly swept through the west of the city, said Hussein, leaving the area in the hands of looters, who grabbed chimpanzees, Vervet monkeys, Pekinese dogs, love birds and cockatoos.

Off the main road, one of the zoo's camels grazes on a patch of scrub.

"The bears have gone too, I don't know if they took them or just let them go," said Hussein, who said he was also concerned for the well-being of Uday's even bigger collection of lions and tigers at his Baghdad residence.

With no U.S. presence in the park, would-be looters are on the prowl. One group was trying to uproot a large generator next to the model railway, ignoring Hussein's cries of disgust.

"There is no government, no security, no organization," Hussein said. "We are alone here and without help our animals will die."

http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=focusIraqNews&storyID=2583553

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Baghdad Zoo: A different battle
A war story with lions, tigers and bears
Thursday, April 17, 2003 Posted: 1000 GMT ( 6:00 PM HKT)


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- As U.S. forces were trying to gain control of Baghdad, a group of soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division suddenly realized the war zone had become a zoo, literally.

Iraqi soldiers had turned the city zoo into a battlefield, firing off artillery and anti-aircraft guns at U.S. positions, and the deserted animals were forced to fend for themselves, likely terrified from the sound of gunfire.

Eventually, when U.S. forces came through, one soldier said it was hard to believe what they had found.

"I think it was very surreal," said Maj. Rick Nussio. "I mean here we are in the middle of the city, everyone's been talking about urban combat for three months, and the next thing you know there's camels walking through our position, and monkeys in the trees, and at night you have a lion roaming free. It was very surreal, very strange."

The lions and camels, along with two bears, an ocelot, exotic birds, monkeys, pigs, a wolf and other animals had been left alone -- without food -- listless and hungry in the middle of a war.

Suddenly the battle changed from fighting Iraqis to fighting for the lives of the zoo animals.

"Well, I think it was just their state of helplessness," Nussio said. "Here they are, caged up, no water or food, no way to get water or food," he said. "And, I mean, I just don't think it was something we could turn our back on."

The plight of many of the zoo animals was pitiful. No one was left around to tell Nussio and his fellow soldiers-turned-zookeepers how long the creatures had gone without food or water, let alone how to properly care for them.

Difficult decisions had to be made. Pigs in the zoo had to be sacrificed -- their meat rationed to feed more exotic carnivores such as the tigers, lions and bears. Even a wolf -- who was too near death when found by the soldiers -- had to be used as animal rations when the end finally came.

But soldiers can't be zookeepers all the time, and one night Nussio's unit was forced to abandon the animals to rejoin the war.

During their absence, the zoo was looted. Cages were torn open by thieves who took birds, goats and apparently any animal unlikely to bite back. The zoo's monkeys simply were turned loose on the city, a cruel liberation in an unnatural habitat.

"There's not much we can do to get those monkeys back," Nussio said, his voice tinged with disappointment.

Despite the setbacks, the soldiers grew determined to win this battle -- the battle for the lives of the animals.

Looters emptied some of the zoo's cages.

Part of the fight was battling against the lack of the simplest conveniences, such as running water. Soldiers, helped by some Iraqis, were forced to cart water to the zoo over long distances. The animals will not die of thirst.

After saving the animals, this band of U.S. soldiers -- who prepared themselves to fight the war of their generation -- eventually will be returning home with unexpected and unique stories to tell. For Nussio, his war stories will include the legendary king of beasts.

"One of the things behind it was having that close, personal contact with the lion," Nussio said. "I don't think very many people would get that in their life. And I certainly never thought -- going to combat in Baghdad -- I'd end up feeding a lion."

CNN Correspondent Michael Holmes contributed to this report.

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/04/16/sprj.nilaw.baghdad.zoo/

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Saddam's lions, tigers, bears go hungry
Sammy Ketz
Posted Tue, 15 Apr 2003
AFP


Two of Saddam Hussein's leopards stare out glumly from a cage surrounded by netting on the grounds of the presidential palace in the heart of Baghdad.

Barely able to rise when visitors approach, the animals look paralysed by bitter hunger and the blazing heat as they lie stricken in the shade.

Their legs tremble and they need several tries to stand upright. They advance slowly, almost dragging themselves toward the bars of the cage, their eyes vacant.

In a distant corner of the enclosure, a lion, lioness and three cubs huddle together, looking exhausted and parched.

The entire family has been robbed of strength and the cubs curl up close to their mother. The stench is overwhelming.

"There is also a brown bear but he's not out today," says Second Lieutenant Karl Hoempler of the HHC, 4-64 Armour Battalion, whose unit is closest to the palace zoo.

"No one dares to enter because we don't know how to treat these animals. The veterinary unit isn't here and we don't know how to feed them.

"We've been giving them some rations or whatever we can find," he said, showing the devoured pouches.

The portions are desperately insufficient as an adult lion should eat an average of eight kilograms of meat each day.

When Saddam still reigned here at the palace, each consumed the meat of two donkeys per day. A donkey cost 8000 dinars (four dollars), a monthly salary in Iraq, but still cheaper than beef.

Sheep are locked up in a barn and one of them lies dead with flies swarming around its head. Three German shepherds turn to the gate and bark when soldiers approach.

"We haven't eaten meat since we left for the war so how can we feed them?" the lieutenant asks.

The people charged with caring for the animals used to live next door. Jackets are strewn on the bed, notebooks and Arabic manuals on animals litter the floor, as if the minders had left in a hurry.

These animals were the passion of Uday, Saddam's elder son.

Uday had made a personal donation of two tigers and five lions to the Baghdad public zoo, which has since been completely destroyed after serving as a battlefield in US troops' struggle to take the capital last week.

Even before the war began March 20, the zoo had suffered under UN sanctions slapped on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in 1990 and was not only short of proper food, but also of vaccines and medicine.

The Iraqi army had stored pieces of artillery at the park, which were pulverised by US forces.

Today, Americans soldiers patrol the alleyways not far from two terrified camels. They move forward gingerly, avoiding the armed men as they begin to munch on tree leaves.

http://iafrica.com/news/us_terror/iraq/229133.htm

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Posted 4/10/2003 10:02 PM
Updated 4/10/2003 11:08 PM The Baghdad zoo welcomes visitors
By Gregg Zoroya, Elliot Blair Smith, Steven Komarow, USA TODAY

BAGHDAD -- On the day after U.S. forces rolled into the heart of the Iraqi capital, Saddam Hussein's whereabouts remained unknown.

An armored U.S. convoy rolls past a burning Iraqi tank Thursday on the outskirts of Baghdad.

By Peter Andrews, Reuters

But U.S. troops did discover his lions and cheetahs and bear � and a cache of weapons stashed inside a school. They also watched Iraqis loot factories, stores and government buildings, along with the stables of one of Saddam's sons. (Related audio: Exploring one of Saddam's palaces)

Such is life for U.S. forces. Wednesday's celebrations aside, Baghdad remains a virtual unknown. And behind every door, U.S. soldiers and Marines aren't certain what they'll find:

At the zoo

Along the Tigris River, near two of Saddam's 78 presidential palaces, two Army scouts came upon a metal door to a walled compound. When they jarred it open, one of them, Staff Sgt. Darren Swain, thought he saw a tail.

"Hey man," he said to the other soldier, "that looked like a lion."

Inside the compound was a small, private zoo, where lions, cheetahs, a bear and German shepherds were starving. The soldiers opened their MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) and pushed pound cake through the bars for the bear. They tossed chicken meals to young lions and two lion cubs.

Most of the animals had been locked in cages surrounded by a chain-link fence. The young lions had the run of the compound, but the bear and cheetahs were confined to their pens.

The soldiers worried that the caged animals couldn't reach any water. That's when Capt. Stefan McFarland entered the fenced-in compound with his 9mm pistol in one hand and a chair in the other. He needed to reach the cages to free the other animals.

"The Crocodile Hunter would be proud of you guys," said Maj. Kent Rideout, a battalion executive officer who was watching.

Apparently, the MREs didn't satisfy the animals. The soldiers ended up pulling live sheep from a nearby pen and pushing the animals into the lion compound. While the soldiers looked on, the young lions pounced on and killed two of the sheep, fending off the cheetahs and the bear for the spoils.

School 'supplies'

The security guard outside the Al Muroj kindergarten seemed nervous Thursday. U.S. Marines patrolling the upscale Baghdad neighborhood known as Engineering Town had asked the guard whether Iraqi secret police or militias had used the schoolhouse. (Related story: A perilous drive to Baghdad)

The guard told them no, but he could not produce keys to open the building. So a six-man team of Marine investigators kicked down the schoolhouse doors.

Inside, alongside Disney-like murals of ducks, rabbits and squirrels, the Marines found two rooms full of sophisticated radio equipment, military clothing, makeshift beds and bags of rice.

Next door, at the Markez Alawa-a, or school for the handicapped, the Marines found more radio equipment capable of monitoring U.S. military communications. Then they discovered Iraqi tape cassettes, transcripts and written records of the radio intercepts. One document indicated that the Iraqis spied on Russian Embassy officials, who themselves were spying on the Americans.

Dated March 30, the document of the Iraqi Intelligence Service said an Iraqi spy at the Russian Embassy had picked up radio communications there � it is unclear how � indicating that U.S. special operations forces were inside Baghdad and attempting to persuade Iraqi nationals to assist them.

"This was a major listening post," said Maj. Mark DeVito, a Marine reservist on leave from the Drug Enforcement Agency. (Related audio: Marines greeted by happy Iraqis.)

Just before the Marines left Engineering Town, the security guard who had refused to cooperate approached once more. This time, through DeVito's translator, he apologized. The security guard said he had been warned that if he spoke, Iraqi security forces would rip off his jaw.

Looting Uday's horses

At night, Baghdad becomes especially dangerous. The Republican Guard troops might be gone, but they left behind millions of hungry, desperate Iraqis who now are engaged in a binge of looting at government installations and in residential neighborhoods.

The situation is apparent in Saddam City, an impoverished enclave of more than 2 million mostly Shiite Muslims. Cars, trucks, even donkey carts there were filled with loot. Stolen goods range from brand-new Mercedes Benzes to plastic chairs stolen off patios.

U.S. soldiers tried to restore a vestige of law and order. But mostly, they did little to check the rampant looting around the city.

Looters carted off bottles of wine and whiskey, guns, and paintings of half-naked women from the luxury home Saddam's playboy son Uday. They also picked clean Uday's yacht and made off with some of the white Arabian horses he kept. What they could not carry, they trashed.

Thousands of looters who at first had confined themselves to government sites began cleaning out factories and stores around Baghdad. They piled goods from bathtubs to mattresses to TVs to orange juice on carts.

At a bridge, several soldiers questioned a young man covered with blood but not badly hurt. He said he had been beaten for stealing water.

Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division expressed hope that Iraq has better days ahead. One said he hoped the children would benefit and "grow up in a future that will provide them with an education, better clothing, better food, an opportunity for their parents to have better jobs instead of living out in the desert in a tent."

Pfc. Adam McPhie said he found it "heartbreaking to see how they live."

"We see little kids begging for food. All I can do is throw them an MRE and give them a wave," McPhie said. "And hopefully one day they grow up and they remember the soldiers that came through and freed them from the regime that was here, from Saddam. He was an evil, evil man."

Contributing: Wire reports

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-04-10-bagvignettes-usat_x.htm

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CONTENT COPYRIGHT THE USA TODAY, AFP, CNN, & REUTERS. THIS CONTENT IS INTENDED SOLELY FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES.



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