The Beauty of the Beasts: Restoring the Baghdad Zoo
RSSJennifer Brown, Curriculum Connections--School Library Journal
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When U.S. Army Major William Sumner (who has a master's degree in archaeology) was deployed to Baghdad, he thought he would be working to help recover and archive the contents of the Iraq Museum International--and he did do this for his first few months in Iraq. But as a civil affairs officer, his job was also to relieve soldiers of non-combative duties, and he soon found himself at the Baghdad Zoo, helping to save the undernourished and neglected animals--a task that would become his sole mission. The care and feeding of these creatures would ultimately unite people from all backgrounds in Iraq and from all over the world.
After Major Sumner spoke of his experiences on CBS Sunday Morning, Kelly Milner Halls approached him about telling his story, and their conversations, plus his letters and photographs, form the foundation of their collaborative effort, Saving the Baghdad Zoo: A True Story of Hope and Heroes (HarperCollins, 2010). Here Major Sumner discusses his mission.
Were you surprised when you were asked to help rescue animals?
When the invasion started, teams that had been through the zoo recommended that the animals be euthanized. The commander on the ground in charge of the area stationed a couple guys to protect the zoo; those soldiers decided to feed and protect the animals. Not much attention had been given to the animals [when we were] securing the city. We realized that the zoo was quite sizable, and then we discovered there were also smaller, privately owned zoos.
The conditions were really dreadful at the zoo, weren't they?
The place was looted. We saw people pulling wires out of the walls and one guy carrying out a toilet. We were trying to take care of the animals--to haul water and to locate shovels and batteries. We had absolutely nothing--nothing except hungry animals and locked cages. And occasionally an explosion would go off.
You've said that the camel named Lumpy was your favorite rescued animal. Why?
When we found him he was an adolescent camel; he was...dehydrated and had some medical conditions. I took a liking to him. All the dirt and [animal waste] stuck on him formed what looked like armored plates. We had to shave him to make sure he had no open sores. That was a surreal scene--shaving him with sounds of rockets and gunfire going off all around us. So many odd things happened--on a daily basis. Baboons broke out [of their cages] and were spotted regularly. We had to hunt one down in a theater and tried to get him back into the zoo, but couldn't. Every few days he'd turn up...We never did [catch him].
It appears that the spontaneous protests to keep Saedia, the 32-year-old bear, in Iraq, was a watershed moment. Did you feel it was?
I really think it was a defining moment. Before then, there wasn't much protesting going on in Iraq. People who protested would disappear. When I saw the reaction of the workers who objected to the bear being sent away, that's when I knew that the Iraqi people felt they could express themselves without fear. You could see that things were changing.
Did you have any idea how far the zoo reconstruction project would go toward building a partnership between the Americans and the Iraqi people?
At the time, we didn't think about that. We were trying to make sure that the Iraqis could take care of their families. Then we built links with the veterinary colleges, and the partnership came naturally.
Once we moved out of the crisis stage, we started educating the Iraqi children. We found out that many of them didn't know much about their own country. We used the animals as a way to teach them about it. We started programs about Northern Iraq and Southern Iraq; the children learned that the zoo animals were the animals that lived in different regions of their country. We started working with the children in the orphanages and those with special needs.
You also mention the effort to secure the safety of Saddam Hussein's stolen Arabian Horses that had bloodlines dating back to Saladin (in the 12th century) as a powerful unifier.
Sergeant First Class Robert Bussell of the 1st Cavalry Division took care of them, but everyone took a interest in the horses. Airport Road connected the airport to the rest of Baghdad, and for a long time there were daily explosions on it. Bussell and his group rode that road twice a day, every day, to care for the animals.
Wasn't Dr. Murrani's family threatened by Iraqis who objected to her work with Americans?
Her family had to leave the country because of death threats and her involvement with us. The crew we had endured a lot. An Iraqi contractor was killed...because of her work with us.
Why do you think it's easy for people to bond over animals?
I'm not sure. We heard in the news and from other soldiers about the problems between Sunni and Shiite. Half of our team was Sunni and half was Shiite. We had a Republican Guard and several Baathists working with us as well. On our team, there were representatives from South Africa, and a female Iraqi veterinarian, Dr. Farah Murrani. All of us were focused on this one task: the animals. They needed our help, and they don't take sides; animals don't have an agenda. We all bonded with the them; it was a common point of understanding. If we could get a concentrated effort there, what else could we do?
Have you stayed in touch with your animal rescue team: Dr. Murrani, Specialist Erin McLoughlin, and Brendan Whittington-Jones?
Yes! Here's a funny story: Brendan Whittington-Jones, from South Africa, proposed to Dr. Murrani and they're getting married.
Jennifer M. Brown is the children's editor for Shelf Awareness, a daily enewsletter for the publishing trade. She recently launched the website Twenty by Jenny, which recommends titles to help parents build their child's library one book at a time.
