The world's loneliest zoo

[Wonk]

Amid the violence and poverty of the West Bank is a besieged but beautiful animal park, treasured by families on both sides of the divide.

(snip)

"The Arabs and Israelis disagree over many things, but there is no disagreement over animals," Dr Khadr laughs.

But it has not all been plain sailing. The zoo may look as if it has managed to escape the violence all around it, but it has not. The story of the giraffe's death is ample evidence of that. On either side of the zoo lie Palestinian schools. When Israeli incursions were more frequent last year, the boys used to throw stones at the Israeli tanks as they passed. The Israelis responded by shooting them. Sometimes they use rubber-coated steel bullets, which can kill at close range. Sometimes they use live ammunition.

At the sound of gunfire, the giraffe panicked and stampeded. He hit his head on the wall of his enclosure and fell over. Unable to get up, he died - giraffes' blood circulation fails if they fall down. His mate was pregnant at the time. After the shock of the male giraffe's death, she miscarried. It was one of Dr Khadr's lows at the zoo. Others include the time one of the monkeys sliced three of his fingers off on the bars of his cage in panic at the sound of gunfire, and the deaths of the entire collection of zebras - once one of the zoo's main attractions.

The zebras were tear-gassed to death. The Israeli army fired tear gas to disperse a crowd of stone-throwers who had gathered near the zoo. Tear gas is highly poisonous to zebras.

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