As of February 19, 2001, donors have provided a total of $385,270 for
the Kabul Zoo Fund and $123,540 for the Afghan Animal Fund. Already,
$70,000 from these funds have been delivered to WSPA to underwrite
animal relief and rescue efforts in Afghanistan
On February 13, John Walsh, International Projects Director for the
World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) visited the North
Carolina Zoo to update staff and the media on the work that had been
accomplished with donations provided to the Kabul Zoo and Afghan Animal
funds established by the N.C. Zoo Society.
Monies from these funds sent a WSPA animal rescue team into Kabul in
early January. The team found a zoo nearly destroyed by more than a
decade of civil and international wars. Most of the exhibits were
rubble. The zoo had functioned without electricity or a consistent water
supply since 1992. Zoo staff had not been paid for six months and had
lost much hope and ability to care for the animals. Keepers came in to
feed the 40 animals that remained in the zoo (down from 300 prior to the
war). Health care for the animals was minimal.
Unexploded bombs, grenades and other armaments were all around the
city, including the zoo. The team found Marjan, Kabul's famous lion, in
very poor condition. He was very old and had suffered from years of
malnutrition. He died from chronic liver and kidney failure on January
23. However, WSPA rescuers made his last weeks comfortable and peaceful.
He had an indoor heater to warm him at night, and injections of
vitamins, painkillers and antibiotics alleviated many of the symptoms
brought on by his age and the years of malnourishment.
According to Mr. Walsh, "Marjan was old, ailing and brave, and that's
why people respected him." Marjan was buried at the Kabul Zoo on Monday,
January 28. Mr. Walsh held the burial at night, away from cameras, to
give Marjan the respect and the privacy he deserved.
With medications and equipment paid for by donations to the N.C. Zoo
Society's Kabul Zoo and Afghan Animal funds, WSPA workers began
providing veterinary care to a host of animals. The Asiatic black bear
that the keepers call Sambu (even though visitors call her Donatella)
began receiving antibiotics for her injured nose. (Sambu continues to
recover.) WSPA also established relations with four existing veterinary
centers in Kabul, and began supplying them with thousands of dollars of
supplies and medicines. These centers treat thousands of working donkeys
and horses.
WSPA made significant improvements to the zoo's dilapidated cages and
crumbling enclosures. The Asiatic black bear was moved to a restored,
large enclosure that contains rocks, stumps and trees where she can hide
and rest. The two wolves went into Marjan's old enclosure, where they
have room to move about and get away from each other. Team members
erected barriers around all the animal enclosures to keep people back
and away from the animals. Signs were put up throughout the zoo telling
people to treat the animals with respect.
Workers also added perches to the birds' enclosures so they did not have
to sit on cement. Two porcupines got new logs where they could curl up
and sleep in security. The other animals at the zoo received similar
enrichment items.
WSPA reestablish electric and water services to the zoo, and secured a
reliable source for healthy and nutritionally balanced foods. Mr. Walsh
also established a system of checks and balances to ensure that funds
were spent on food and equipment for the animals.
WSPA hired two additional workers for the zoo to provide record keeping,
establish educational efforts, and help ensure protection for the
animals. (One of the new workers is a woman John Walsh saw begging on
the streets encased in a blue burka. He learned that both of her sons
had been killed in the war and that her husband is paralyzed. She had
been a civil servant before the Taliban took everything away from her.
Now she is an advocate for wildlife.)
Several zoos around the world have offered to replace Marjan with
another lion. WSPA and the N.C. Zoo and Zoo Society unequivocally oppose
the idea of introducing more animals to the barely functioning zoo. Our
immediate concern is to stabilize the health and well-being of the
animals until the Afghan government can take over the care of the
animals.
Mr. Walsh will return to Kabul in March to re-asses the situation there
and continue to ensure the well being of the animals. As Kabul
stabilizes, a team of zoo professionals will go in to the city to begin
making long-term plans for the zoo. Most likely, the Cologne Zoo will
lead this effort.
As the situation in Kabul continues to stabilize, additional services
will be provided to domestic animals in the area. A strong need has been
found to provide training to the local veterinarians. Many are
disheartened and most lack knowledge of modern veterinary procedures and
techniques. WSPA and, eventually the Brooke Hospital for Animals, will
attempt to provide both training and medicines and help restore these
capabilities.
If, and only when, Afghanistan begins to regain economic, political and
cultural stability, the zoo community may take steps toward establishing
the Kabul Zoo as a center for conservation and animal welfare education.
As you wish, funds from the Afghan Animal and Kabul Zoo funds will be
managed to ensure that they are spent only for projects that provide
safe, humane conditions for animals.
Sincerely,
Russell H. Williams
Executive Director
