Baghdad Zoo

Baghdad Zoo is a 200-acre site within Al-Zawraa Park that opened in 1971. Its most documented story is its near-destruction during the 2003 invasion and the rescue effort that followed, when only about 35 of an estimated 650 to 700 animals survived.

不容错过

• The scale of the 200-acre grounds within Al-Zawraa Park
• The rescue story following the zoo's near-destruction in 2003
• The account of Mandor, a Siberian tiger once owned by Uday Hussein, and Saida, a blind brown bear
• Landscape plantings that include eucalyptus, olive, and date palms

门票与行程

游览Baghdad Zoo的方式

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如何到达

行前须知

• The zoo occupies part of Al-Zawraa Park in Baghdad.
• Lawrence Anthony and Graham Spence recount the animal-rescue effort in the book Babylon's Ark.
• The documented park plantings include eucalyptus, olive, and date palms.

历史背景

The zoo was built in 1971 under Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr. It suffered from the United Nations Iraq sanctions after the first Gulf War, which limited food, medicines, and vaccines. Saddam Hussein closed the zoo for renovations in spring 2002. During the 2003 invasion, only about 35 of the original 650–700 animals survived. Zoo staff suspended feeding in early April 2003 when Fedayeen Saddam troops took defensive positions around the zoo. Looters tore open cages and took animals for food. Remaining animals were found starving and thirsty, including Mandor, a Siberian tiger that was Uday Hussein's personal property, and Saida, a blind brown bear. South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony arrived eight days after the invasion to help rescue the animals, working with zoo directors Dr. Adel Salman Mousa and Dr. Husham Mohamed Hussan. U.S. Army Captain William Sumner of the 354th Civil Affairs Brigade improved security and appointed Anthony interim zoo administrator. The zoo reopened on July 20, 2003, with 86 animals, including all 19 surviving lions. In 2008, the zoo had grown to about 800 animals, mostly birds, with only two female lions left from the original 22. That year, two tiger cubs named Hope and Riley were donated from a North Carolina conservation center. By 2009, the zoo reported about 1,070 animals.