WildAid to the Rescue

The U.S. Army provided supplies, materiel and security to Lawrence Anthony (second from left) and the Baghdad Zoo staff who fought shoulder to shoulder to save the animals starving and traumatized by gunfire and bombing in the zoo.

When the animal salvage efforts made international news, pledges of support came from several animal welfare organizations and zoos in the U.S. The U.S. Army meanwhile provided funds, supplies and transport for bringing the animals back to the main zoo from Saddam Hussein’s private enclaves.

Stephan Bognar of San Francisco-based WildAid arrived in Baghdad with funds, and he and Anthony started paying the zoo staff to get them coming back to work. Eventually the three grew to three dozen.

Shortly after his arrival in Baghdad, it was the Army that appointed Anthony the interim administrator of the Baghdad Zoo. This nonpaid job was, said one observer, “all guts, no glory.”

But when Anthony was visited at the zoo by General Garner, head of the U.S. forces in post-war Iraq, Garner observed, “Right now, this is the only functioning institution in Iraq.”

The number of animals is still not up to the former population of 450. Nonetheless, radio pleas and searches through the streets have brought back some of the stolen animals, and conditions in the zoo have improved dramatically. But, says Anthony, his battle is anything but over.

Reconstruction Era

Anthony describes the 19th-century-style zoo as archaic — cramped cages with concrete floors instead of the clean, open, natural settings of today’s zoos. His vision for the future of this largest zoo in the Middle East includes bringing the Iraqi staff to Los Angeles for training under zoo staff so the Iraqis can return and transform their zoo into a humane, modern facility with maximum animal welfare and visitor enjoyment.

And, with posterity in mind, Anthony also established Iraq’s first humane society for animals, with an Iraqi veterinarian in command.

He has since returned to Baghdad to continue his work. In July 2003, he will return to the United States as the guest of the American Zoo Association for more speaking and fund-raising. One day, indefinite per his honest estimates, he will return to the game reserve he owns in South Africa’s bush.