Babylon's Ark
The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo
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When the Iraq war began, conservationist Lawrence Anthony could think of only one thing: the fate of the Baghdad Zoo, located in the city center and caught in the war's crossfire. Once Anthony entered Baghdad he discovered that full-scale combat and uncontrolled looting had killed nearly all the animals of the zoo.
But not all of them. U.S. soldiers had taken the time to help care for the remaining animals, and the zoo's staff had returned to work in spite of the constant firefights. Together the Americans and Iraqis had managed to keep alive the animals that had survived the invasion.
Babylon's Ark chronicles the zoo's transformation from bombed-out rubble to peaceful park. Along the way, Anthony recounts hair-raising efforts to save a pride of the dictator's lions, close a deplorable black-market zoo, and rescue Saddam's Arabian horses. His unique ground-level experience makes Babylon's Ark an uplifting story of both sides working together for the sake of innocent animals caught in the war's crossfire.
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This was a neat story about a South African man with a love of animals. Like me, he watched the news during the Iraq war in 2003 and felt helpless at what he saw transpiring there. Unlike me, however, he actually did something worthwhile about it.
Lawrence Anthony owns a wildlife preserve in South Africa, but when he heard about the state of the Baghdad Zoo after repeated bombings, looters, and being abandoned by its staff, he put some money in his pocket and headed out to do good. Much bureaucracy and red tape later he arrives at the zoo, only to see how far the conditions had fallen, how much damage was everywhere, and how few animals still remained. Not to be deterred, he puts the call out for workers and supplies, bankrolling it all out of his own pocket to start. It's an amazing tale that involves not only the rehabilitation of the Baghdad Zoo, but also several side stories involving its workers and the rescue of several exotic animals from various parts of the city. This man's a hero.
Unfortunately I just read about his passing in 2012 after reading this book, but that doesn't diminish all the awesome things he was able to accomplish in his life. This was an incredibly inspiring story, highly recommend.
