The only surviving bear and lion in Mosul zoo finally get treatment, after Isil driven from area
The only surviving animals of Mosul zoo - a young lion named Simba and a bear known as Lula - have finally received treatment after Isil fighters were driven from their part of the city.
All the other monkeys, birds, and horses who once populated the zoo died or fled during the two years of jihadist rule in Mosul and the months of fighting since Iraqi forces launched their offensive to recapture the city.
Some of the animals were killed by shelling while others starved to death or ate one another.
When Iraqi troops reached the zoo in the eastern half of Mosul earlier this month they found only the bear and the lion, both filthy and emaciated and in urgent need of care.
Treatment finally arrived this week when Dr Amir Khalil, who describes himself as a “roving war zone veterinarian” reached the zoo with a team of volunteers from the global animal charity Four Paws.
“It is, I believe, inhuman to leave the king of the jungle, or the king of the animals, to be in this place," Dr Khalil told AFP as he stood outside the lion’s cage.
Simba was badly underfed but the Lula’s condition appeared to be worse. The bear had diarrhoea and her teeth were rotting.
Shelling could be heard in western Mosul, where Iraqi forces are still fighting against Isil, as the volunteer term tended to the animals.
Four Paws said that after initial treatment it planned to give the zoo owner enough food and medicine for the two animals to last a month, giving him time to find funds to resume caring for the beasts.
This is not Dr Khalil’s first experience of extreme veterinary work. The 52-year-old doctor flew into Iraq after the 2003 war to rescue lions at one of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces in Baghdad.
He also treated animals in Gaza during the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, which he described as “the worst in the world”.
"These animals were kept in captivity because of us,” Dr Khalil said. “And they don't have the luxury to escape. And they deserve that somebody cares for them”.