Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Hunger kills Sarajevo zoo's last animal Date: Wed, 4 Nov 92 16:16:30 EST Message-ID: \SE A;WORLD \SS (WS) \HD Hunger kills Sarajevo zoo's last animal \BY REUTERS \DT SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (Reuters) - The last animal in the Sarajevo zoo, a brown bear, has died of starvation. "We took him some bread, an apple, last Wednesday, but he was too weak to eat them. . . . He died the next day," said zoo worker Pal Takac. "I was sad to see him die after all these months, but at least his suffering is over." The bear survived longer than any other animal in captivity at the zoo in the Bosnian capital, under siege for seven months, by eating two other bears that shared its cage. The cage is just 100 yards from the lines of Sarajevo's Serbian besiegers and has been exposed to regular sniper and mortar fire. "We tried to feed the bear as often as we could, but when the leaves fell from the trees it was nearly impossible because the snipers could see us easily," said Mr. Takac, 60. One zookeeper was shot dead by a sniper and another wounded attempting to feed the animals. The carcasses of lions, tigers, leopards and bears clutter cages in the main animal house near the Serbian lines. Zoo workers say giraffes, eagles and wolves died months ago. An American animal-rights activist recently arrived in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, intent on rescuing the bear. He abandoned his mission when U.N. and government authorities refused to give him the credentials necessary to travel through the Bosnian war zone to Sarajevo. Peacocks still wander the zoo grounds, their shrill cries rending the air along with the crack of sniper fire and the crash of mortars. Ponies occasionally are glimpsed grazing on a nearby hillside controlled by Serbian forces. But for all the caged animals in Sarajevo's zoo, the siege is over. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM