Babylon's Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the \t\t Baghdad Zoo

Anthony, a South African conservationist and recipient of the U.N.'s \t\t Earth Day award, details how, through a series of complex maneuvers, he entered \t\t Iraq after the American invasion and led the fight to save what was left of the \t\t Baghdad Zoo. Most of the animals were killed by war and looting; the remainder \t\t were starved and in filthy cages, with no staff to care for them. Anthony \t\t describes how he, along with the zoo's former deputy director and several brave \t\t workers, risked daily danger to save the bears, lions, tigers, monkeys and \t\t birds. Anthony fended off looters with a gun obtained from a sympathetic U.S. \t\t soldier, spent his own funds for equipment and bartered the use of a satellite \t\t phone for food and other essentials. Anthony vividly recounts the rescue of \t\t other animals, including the inhabitants of the appalling Luna Park Zoo and \t\t Saddam's prize Arabian horses, saved from the hands of black marketeers. The \t\t author takes no position on the invasion. His goal is for his mission, so \t\t dramatically recounted with journalist Spence's help, to set an example of \t\t conservation and respect for animal life. 8 pages of color photos. \t\t (Mar. 12)