"It seems like only the big cats and some of the larger animals, like bears, survived. A lot of animsl were stolen and quite possibly eaten during the looting,". . .

The National Geographic report continues with descriptions of the zoo and private animal collections known to exist before the war. There are references to the conditions and fates of animals in Kuwait during the 1991 war. Jane Ballentine, spokesperson for the AZA, compares Kabul and Baghdad:

"In Kabul, the few staff the zoo did have there were really dedicated and never left the animals. They stayed throughout the fall of the Taliban and the American invasion," said Ballentine. "In Baghdad, American and Britis troops, as well as the Iraqi Republican Guard, used the zoo as a staging area, and the zoo people were forced to leave. So the biggest issue will be whether those folks will be able to come back and take over the day-to-day care of the animals, getting food, the right kind of food, and shelter for the animals."

Everyone seems to be poised to help but unable to move in because the environment remains unsafe. Central Command in Qatar reports that a supply of food is enroute to Baghdad's two zoos including two weeks' worth of meat, fruit, and vegetables as well as a month's supply of dry food. it is not known when the food will actually reach Baghdad, much less the zoos. Other resources are said to be on the way from Jordan, Syria, and Kuwait.

"But nothing can be done until permission to enter Baghdad is granted by the U.S. and British governments," said IFAW [International Fund for Animal Welfare] spokesperson Jennifer Ferguson-Mitchell.

Calls to U.S. Agency for International Development and Central Command revealed confusion on the nature and timing of such permission. Though Central Command initially referred the question to USAID, a spokesman for the aid agency said the military made such determinations. A second spokesman for Central Command said that the U.S. military was not denying anyone permission to enter but advising them on the risks.

"We've not stopped anyone from coming in," said a Central Command spokesman. "It's up to the aid organization to say 'Okay, we feel it's safe enough to come in.'"

First out of the chute is a press release by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) announcing their offer of help to the Baghdad zoo. Efforts will be coordinated by the North Carolina Zoological Society and the North Carolina Zoo whose director, Dr. David Jones, has experience working in the Middle East. The article does not articulate any specific plan since no assessment of the situation has been completed, although the first order of business is fund-raising. The third paragraph includes an address for donations.

More than half of the article is an update on the Kabul zoo and its reconstruction, overseen by the same Dr. Jones of the North Carolina Zoo. A total of over $500,000 was raised for that relief effort with $350,000 for the zoo and $150,000 for "other animals affected by the war." As of December 2002, repairs were being performed on "many of the exhibits considered worth salvaging." Also under way are draft plans for reconstruction of more complex facilities and development of the zoo's animal record system. Another promising item is the following:

. . .a full-time education officer, former school teacher Mohammed Fazil, has been hired by the Kabul Zoo to begin developing programs for school children. These programs will focus on animal welfare instruction as well as animal biology.

Television footage showed the rivers Pompa and Paraiba do Sul covered with a white foam, dead fish floating belly-up, and people queuing for water from trucks. . . .

Fishing and agricultural irrigation have been banned in the affected areas, while ecologists said it could take the ecosystem up to 15 years to recover.

According to preliminary reports, 100 animals have died along the river banks as well as hundreds of fish. Caustic soda is a severely corrosive substance which can produce blindness in animals in as little as a minute with exposure to a 2% dilution and damage to skin, mucous membranes, esophagus, and stomach.

"Iraq's two major rivers (Tigris and Euphrates) are an important part of the route for many long-distance migrants, including pelicans and storks, and for shore birds that breed along the Caspian Sea and in central Asia," Hockey said.

"A lot of the birds will be moving now, with the main movement time being from the middle of March to the end of April."

Uh-oh.

In this 14 March article, Hockey discusses the ways in which a number of species could be affected. Are his warnings just over-anxious hand-wringing? A second article on 21 March reports that two birds ringed (banded) in SA have been "recovered" in Iraq: a steppe buzzard likely enroute to its breeding grounds in southern Asia and a curlew sandpiper which would nest in Siberia. However, the article does not specifically state that the birds were ill, injured, or on the ground for any life-threatening reason nor does it say what became of the birds after they were recovered.

Les Underhill, of the University of Cape Town's avian demography unit, noted the losses from other recent wars:

"One of the main battlegrounds of the Iran-Iraq War were the Mesopotamian marshes, one of the most important bird areas of the Middle East. Vast areas of reedbeds were burnt and wetlands were drained."

He said 90 percent of the wetland, which was two-thirds the size of the Kruger National Park, had been ruined.

During the Gulf War, the world's largest oil spill obliterated millions of hectares of mudflats in the Persian Gulf, vital to birdlife.

Jacob Casper, coordinator of disaster services at the Maryland Agriculture Department, said he's not sure of the effectiveness of gas masks for pets. A dog regulates its heat mechanisms by panting; a gas mask might prevent it from breathing normally, causing its body temperature to rise, he said.

The cure could be worse than the illness. Interventions have consequences of their own and need to be evaluated.

An unresolved problem is that of pets left behind because the owner was away from home when an evacuation was called and could not return. This is different from the owner who evacuates from home and chooses to leave animals behind.

One of the startling lessons for many pet owners after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was the need to arrange for animal care in the owner's absence. Many had to evacuate in New York and pets were left on their own in apartments.