Babylon's Ark

This was a neat story about a South African man with a love of animals. Like me, he watched the news during the Iraq war in 2003 and felt helpless at what he saw transpiring there. Unlike me, however, he actually did something worthwhile about it.

Lawrence Anthony owns a wildlife preserve in South Africa, but when he heard about the state of the Baghdad Zoo after repeated bombings, looters, and being abandoned by its staff, he put some money in his pocket and headed out to do good. Much bureaucracy and red tape later he arrives at the zoo, only to see how far the conditions had fallen, how much damage was everywhere, and how few animals still remained. Not to be deterred, he puts the call out for workers and supplies, bankrolling it all out of his own pocket to start. It's an amazing tale that involves not only the rehabilitation of the Baghdad Zoo, but also several side stories involving its workers and the rescue of several exotic animals from various parts of the city. This man's a hero.

Unfortunately I just read about his passing in 2012 after reading this book, but that doesn't diminish all the awesome things he was able to accomplish in his life. This was an incredibly inspiring story, highly recommend.

Considering I was teenager during the Iraq War, I feel like I should have known something (anything!) about what the war was like. As I read, I kept being surprised by the country, the culture, the landscape of it all and wondering, how did I miss this whole thing so badly?

Babylon's Ark showed me a lot of the things I missed - what it was like under the Hussein regime, the horrors of Saddam and his son Uday and how they treated both their people and their animals, and what had to be done to survive in an active war-zone.

In addition to teaching me a lot, the book also kept me really entertained and engaged, and Anthony was a good storyteller, though I think it could have used a tighter edit (a lot of punctuation issues, which hindered readability in places). Anthony's passion for animals came through from page one, and his descriptions of life on the ground in Baghdad were vivid. His optimism was relentless (even when he felt so out of his depth with how much work needed to be done), and that was inspiring. The zoo managed to get water, food, materials, funding, EVERYTHING - essentially - on a wing and a prayer and a heck of a lot of luck and good will from the relationships Anthony built while there, with American soldiers, war-zone photographers, and various wildlife agencies outside Iraq.

Anthony emphasized that the work was always for the animals, as he worked closely with the zoo administrators and staff to obtain necessary supplies and protect the zoo against looters; he also emphasized the intent was always to leave the Iraqis in control of the renovated zoo, as they worked together to rescue abused and injured animals. (Admittedly I only have experience as a white semi-Jewish American and not as a white Zulu South African, and therefore I did feel a few moments that I wondered if they were too white savior-y, but ... using your privilege to help others? I have some things bouncing around in my head to think about.)

Ultimately, an engaging and educational read. I'd recommend it if you like to hear about rescuing animals or want to learn more about the Iraq War from a “neutral” perspective.