American effort assists Afghanistan zoo animals

Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. – The last time David Jones visited the 100-acre zoo in Afghanistan’s capital, he admired bears and mountain goats native to the land as herds of red deer grazed peacefully.

“It was then quite a nice zoo for that part in the world,” said Jones, director of the North Carolina Zoo.

That was 15 years ago.

Today, the number of species at the Kabul zoo has been halved to 19, including a handful of wolves, monkeys and a lion that was blinded in one eye when an Afghan guerrilla threw a grenade into its cage. The animals’ welfare is a low priority of Kabul residents right now who have troubles of their own.

In response to reports about conditions at the zoo, North American zoos and aquariums began a campaign this week to raise $30,000 to keep the Kabul zoo running for the next four to six months. By Friday, the North Carolina Zoological Society had pledges worth $26,000 from 150 donors.

“Some people say, ‘Isn’t this a bit crazy when we’ve got all the human problems?’ ” Jones said. “I think there’s … a much larger appreciation of the animal side of this kind of conflict than what they might think.”

A donor who wanted to remain anonymous promised $10,000, and European zoos have also pledged money.

Jones, who visited the Kabul zoo while director of the London Zoo, is coordinating U.S. fund-raising for the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. The group is one of several agencies raising money to feed and treat animals, pay keepers’ salaries and repair bullet-riddled buildings.

The North Carolina Zoo is working with American and European zoo associations and the World Society for the Protection of Animals to make sure the money reaches its intended destination.

One major expense is Marjan, the lion, whose lunch tab of nearly $14 a day is more than many Kabul residents earn in a month. Marjan was injured in the 1990s by a grenade thrown by a guerrilla whose brother had entered Marjan’s cage the day before and been attacked and killed by the lion. Another guerrilla once fired a rocket-propelled grenade at an elephant.

Since that report, Rod Hackney, a spokesman for the zoo in Asheboro, 70 miles west of Raleigh, said he had been receiving e-mail from people seeking information about how to help. More than 200 e-mails arrived in the last three days, Hackney said.

Jones said the Kabul zoo wasn’t like what he called the “grotty little menageries” that pass for zoos in other parts of the world.

Built on the Kabul River with help from the zoo in Cologne, Germany, the park was one of the better zoos in the region. It was also one of the few places Afghan women could go with their children during the rule of the Taliban, Jones said.

The zoo’s nickel entrance fee generates only about $300 a month, compared to operating costs of $6,000. The zoo’s director hasn’t taken his $20-a-month salary since July.

With no power, no veterinarian and no money to winterize cages, keepers bring shivering songbirds into their own small sleeping quarters to keep them warm.

Jones hopes a two- or three-person team, including a veterinarian and logistics expert, can travel to Kabul in the next few weeks with kerosene heaters and cleaning equipment. Ultimately, U.S. and European zoos hope to send $100,000 to repair shelled buildings, fix water lines and install electric lines.

The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens gave $1,000 after receiving many calls from patrons about the plight of the Kabul animals.

“I think it’s a response to the innate love of animals that people have,” said Thane Maynard, a Cincinnati zoo vice president. “People want to do something. They want to say, ‘This isn’t right.’ “

Additional information about the relief effort is available at the North Carolina Zoo’s Web site at www.nczoo.org.

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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