Three Baghdad Zoo officials, considered the most critical people in the
restoration of that zoo, will visit the North Carolina Zoo on
Wednesday, Jan. 5, and will speak in the Stedman Building multi-purpose
room at 11 a.m. The talk will be illustrated with slides
The three--Capt. William Sumner, Brendan Whittington Jones and Farah
Murrani --will be at the zoo talking about their experiences at the
Baghdad Zoo since the United States occupation.
Sumner was attached to the 354th Civil Affairs Brigade and was the
officer in charge of the zoo and national museum in Baghdad.
There, he had to deal with the theft of museum artifacts, escaped
animals and stolen zoo equipment that was well publicized when Saddam
Hussein was overthrown.
Jones, game ranger from Thula Thula Reserve in Kwazulu-Natal, South
Africa, assisted his boss, Lawrence Anthony, who was the first
non-Iraqi to get into the Baghdad Zoo. Jones then stayed there
from the early days until recently.
Murrani is the senior veterinarian and deputy director of Baghdad Zoo
and also founder of the new Iraqi Animal Welfare Society. She was
connected with the zoo before and after the occupation and is currently
in the United States on a study tour.