- Dozens of animals have wasted away from thirst or hunger at Khan Younis zoo in the impoverished Gaza Strip
- Zoo owner Mohammed Awaida claimed staff couldn't get to the zoo because of the Palestinian and Israeli conflict
- Monkeys, lions, tiger, porcupines and crocodiles were all left to rot away in their enclosures at the animal park
Flies
buzz around the emaciated body of a lion as it decays in the sun;
nearby the mummified corpse baboon lies on the ground- it's head still
tilted up as though looking out of its enclosure, across from it a
porcupine's brittle spines protrude from its lifeless body.
They
are among the dozens of animals which have died at Khan Younis zoo in
the impoverished Gaza Strip after they were left without food.
Zoo
owner Mohammed Awaida has blamed the Palestinian and Israeli conflict
for the tragedy- claiming it meant that staff were unable to feed or
care properly for the animals at the zoo.
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Dozens of neglected animals have died
at a zoo in Gaza City after the facility's owner claimed he was unable
to feed or care for them because of the Israeli Palestinian conflict
Mr
Awaida said he opened the 'South Forest Park' in 2007, only to lose a
number of animals during Israel's military offensive against Hamas that
began in December 2008. During the three-week offensive, launched in
response to rocket attacks on Israel, Awaida said he could not reach the
zoo, and many animals died of neglect and starvation.
And it appears that history has repeated itself.
The
fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants escalated last summer
killing more than 1,960 Palestinians and 67 people on the Israeli side.
The mummified corpse of this baboon,
pictured in its enclosure next to the bodies of several other monkeys,
died at Khan Younis zoo
Palestinian workers came back to find many of the zoo's animals had died including this small monkey
This beautiful tiger was one of many
that dies from hunger or thirst after the zoo owner said Gaza region's
conflict with Israel made it impossible for staff to reach it
Mr Awaida said he opened the 'South
Forest Park' in 2007, only to lose a number of animals during Israel's
military offensive against Hamas that began in December 2008
Once
again unable to reach the zoo, animals died of neglect and starvation.
They include a little monkey, which died in its enclosure- its teeth
still clenched together. In another enclosure, a Palestinian zoo worker
inspects the remnants of a crocodile.
Khan
Younis is one of five zoos in the Gaza Strip, a densely populated
coastal enclave of 1.7million people ruled by Islamic Hamas militants.
With
no government body in Gaza that oversees zoos, and no animal rights
movement in the region, the Khan Younis facility is virtually
unsupervised.
Care
is basic. There is no zookeeper on the premises and medical treatment
is done by consulting over the phone with zoo veterinarians in Egypt.
The
zoo has a tradition of stuffing and embalming those that die and
return them to their enclosures. The centre had ten embalmed animals on
dismay in makeshift exhibits — fashioned from fencing salvaged from
Jewish settlements that Israel dismantled in 2005.
But
after losing dozens of the zoo's 65 live animals, which included
ostriches, monkeys, turtles, deer, a llama, a lion and a tiger, the
numbers of dead animals may risk outnumbering the living.
A palestinian worker is seen inspecting the body of a dead crocodile at the zoo in Khan Younis, in the Gaze strip
This little monkey, which died in its enclosure with its teeth still clenched together, has been dead for some time
With no government body in Gaza that
oversees zoos, and no animal rights movement in the region, the Khan
Younis facility is virtually unsupervised
This porcupine's brittle spines protrude from its lifeless body, it's eyes pecked out, after being deprived of food
Mr Awaida began using his rudimentary taxidermy skills on deceased animals at the zoo after the Gaza war began.
'The
idea to mummify animals started after the Gaza war because a number of
animals like the lion, the tiger, monkeys and crocodiles died,' he said
previously. So we asked around and we learned from the Web how to
start.'
Formaldehyde
and sawdust provided the basic tools, though Awaida acknowledged he was
no expert. A hole in the porcupine's head is impossible not to notice.
Gaza's
zoos are used to resorting to odd ways to get by amid the territory's
multiple woes. In 2009, a zoo in Gaza City exhibited white donkeys
painted with black stripes to look like zebras because it was too
expensive to replace two zebras who were neglected during the Israeli
offensive.
In
the West Bank city of Qalqilya, zoo veterinarian Sami Khader turned to
taxidermy nine years ago when a giraffe named Brownie died during the
second Palestinian uprising against Israel.
Hassan
Azzam, director of the veterinary services department in Gaza's
ministry of agriculture, said: 'We have humble capabilities,' but the
ministry encourages zoos.
When staff do get to the zoo, there
care is basic- there is no zookeeper on the premises and medical
treatment is done by consulting over the phone with zoo veterinarians in
Egypt
The zoo did have 65 live animals, which included ostriches, monkeys, turtles, deer, a llama, a lion and a tiger
The zoo has a
tradition of stuffing and embalming those that die and return them to
their enclosures which could be the fate of some of the better preserved
animals
This baboon's face and eyes have
already begun to rot away after it was deprived of water and food by
staff at the zoo who claim they were unable to reach them
A few animals have survived the long periods without food or proper care at the Khan Younis zoo- such as this pelican
A deer is also counted amongst the survivors of the tragedy which staff blame on the ongoing Palestinian Israeli conflict
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