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CNN Live At Daybreak

International Animal Welfare Team Arrives at Kabul Zoo

Aired January 14, 2002 - 05:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The conditions at Afghanistan's only zoo are about to improve. Under Taliban rule, zoo animals were starved, neglected and injured. Now, an international animal welfare team has started arriving in Kabul to treat the animals.

Reporter Chloe Gunn has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHLOE GUNN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It may once have been a top visitor attraction, but after years of war, Kabul Zoo and its animals are looking more than a little neglected. Now, a team of experts from the World Society for the Protection of Animals has arrived to see what can be done to improve conditions.

The most famous resident is Marjan the lion. He is lame, toothless and blind in one eye after a member of the Taliban hurled a grenade at him. But after surviving bombing raids and civil wars, it's hoped he can now look forward to a comfortable retirement.

JOHN WALSH, SOC. FOR PROTECTION OF ANIMALS: He's a good old boy. He's the symbol of the country. Everybody loves him. And as I say, it has been sort of the symbol of the suffering of the people of this country is exhibited in that animal.

GUNN: Under the Taliban, 90 percent of the zoo was destroyed, and it was starved of funds. Some of the animals need urgent medical attention, like this bear, who had part of its nose cut off.

John Walsh and his team would like to see the zoo closed and the animals moved elsewhere. But locals want to keep it open, hoping that like the rest of Afghanistan, it too can get back onto its feet again.

Chloe Gunn, I-TV News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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