The Lion in the Kabul Zoo

After the US invasion of Afghanistan I discovered a story that I thought was perfect for Animal Planet -- about a one-eyed lion that had survived horrendous abuse during the Taliban's rule, including being shot.  To me the zoo represented the plight and the hope of the country.  To Animal Planet it sounded like a disturbing show that would upset their audience.  Once again it was clear that cable was not the place for filmmakers to tell stories about anything.  It was and is largely the home for distraction entertainment.  I think this would have been a good show.  Of course, my earlier pitch to Nat Geo about the destruction of  the Buddha statues at Bamiyan by the Taliban would have been good too.

The Lion of the Kabul Zoo

Ravaged by war, the animals of the Kabul Zoo are starting to receive food, medicine and veterinary care from other zoos, animal lovers and international agencies.

After years of bullets and bombs, the Kabul Zoo in Afghanistan lies in ruins, its 40 remaining animals scarred by civil war and torment. The only elephant was killed by a rocket. The sole lion has one eye; its other was lost in a grenade attack. The Afghan bear has a blistering sore on its nose from an untreated knife wound. The zoo grounds, once well-maintained, are a mess: the bars of the cages are twisted; fresh water and electricity are rare commodities; and medical treatment for the creatures is all but nonexistent.

But help is on the way.  American animal activists and zoo organizations have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the malnourished animals, marking the beginning of an international effort to save the war-battered facility and its inhabitants.

A team of animal experts who have the expertise and knowledge to work in these tough conditions will soon be on its way to begin the zoo rescue efforts.  We propose to document this dramatic story and bring it to the public in a one-hour special presentation.

This is an enormous opportunity for Animal Planet to show how the zoo world and the public can work together to come to aid of animals in a time of great need. 

“The response has been unbelievable," said Rod Hackney, spokesman for the North Carolina Zoo, which has received hundreds of e-mails from concerned patrons. "The story of these animals has really touched a chord in the hearts of many people."  It’s a story that is certain to touch the hearts of Animal Planet viewers.

The zoo team will be led by Dr. Ehsan Arghandewal, former Dean of the Science Faculty at Kabul University.  The University established the Kabul Zoo 30 years ago. Dr. Arghandewal, a zoologist, fled to Germany when the Taliban came to power.  Another member of the team is Taufik Nuri, a native of Afghanistan who is currently working at the Cologne Zoo, Cologne, Germany.  Nuri was formerly head keeper at the Kabul Zoo and is very familiar with the site. The third team member is Dr. John Lewis, a veterinarian with extensive experience in wild animal medicine.   Lewis is a former veterinary officer at the London Zoo and has been in private specialist practice, connected with both wild and zoo animals for many years.  He works frequently in difficult conditions, including work in central and southern Asia.

Our production team is uniquely qualified to create this important and timeless program.  Since September 11, our field team has spent over 3 months in Afghanistan covering the conflict for Channel 4 in the UK and Japanese TV.  We know how to get in and out of the country and have the confidence and support of the key power brokers we need in order to effectively and safely operate in this dangerous territory.  From the military we can call on Deputy Defense Minister, General Dostum.  We will have the support of the Foreign Minister, Dr. Abbudulah Abbudulah, the government’s spokesperson who speaks perfect English.  In Kabul our media needs will be handled by the former head of public affairs for the Northern Alliance, S’diq Abede, who will soon be named the head of Kabul Television.  We are experts in Central Asia and know how to translate that expertise into compelling storytelling.

We strongly urge a quick approval of this project so that we can document the teams’ first 8-10 days in the zoo.  We will follow up during the course of the next several months with their ongoing efforts but feel the first impressions of the return of the exiled zoo director will be powerful television.

The rescue has three immediate goals that we will illustrate:

1)    They will deal with the critical needs of the animals and staff, organizing essential repairs such as the establishment of running water and electricity.  Dr. Lewis will also assess the health of the animals and provide any immediate veterinary care necessary in collaboration with a local veterinarian who has been on call at the Kabul Zoo for some time.

2)    The team will make a full assessment of the zoo grounds, the animal enclosures and begin to devise plans to get equipment, food and other supplies to the Zoo on a regular basis.  It is hoped that supplies can be bought locally, and local labor used, providing some stimulus to the local economy.

3)    The team has been advised that considerable damage was done to some of the larger animal enclosures and the animals have been confined to some rather small spaces.  The team will organize for repairs to the larger areas so the animals can have additional space.

While we witness this effort unfolding we’ll learn how the damage happened and find out how the rescue effort was organized.

Telling this story will take us back to North Carolina.  We’ll meet Dr. David Jones, the director of the North Carolina Zoo, who heard about the plight of the animals and immediately offered his services, as well as those of the staff to aid the recovery plan for the Kabul Zoo.  He’ll tell us how the whole international zoological community joined together to help a struggling zoo staff keep their animals alive and healthy.  It will be clear that the response from the community and the animal-loving public has been overwhelming.

We’ll find out these efforts, under the banner of the American Zoo and Aquarium Assn. (AZA) and its European counterparts, raised more than $300,000 --far beyond organizers' initial expectations in just a few weeks.  About 80% of the money came from individuals, the remainder from zoos.  In fact, they raised so much money that they’ve started another fund to aid domestic and working animals in Afghanistan, many of which have been injured during ground combat or abandoned after their owners escaped to Pakistan, organizers said.

But the zoo will remain the centerpiece of the association's efforts and the focus of our program.  This story will use archival photos and video to help us track what happened under the Taliban regime.  We’ll see that once they took control of Kabul in 1996, the zoo's 37 species were reduced to 19.  Zookeepers were powerless to stop the Taliban fighters, who regularly teased and tortured and reportedly killed some of the animals--including deer and birds--for food. Under Taliban law, women were forbidden to visit.  We’ll hear that they did visit and find out that the zoo became a sanctuary.  The zoo was a place where they felt safe to be outside with their children.

Even though the zoo remained a popular oasis, there was not enough money to keep it running properly.  During the recent conflict the situation continued to worsen.  The zoo and its charges were on the verge of dying out.

Zoo workers had not been paid since July and the head zookeeper reportedly has not received his $20 monthly allowance to run the zoo.  Somehow he bought food for the animals on credit, and his seven children reportedly pitched in even though they too were going hungry.  The children in our audience will relate to this example of sacrifice and learn something about selfless acts of kindness and courage.

We’ll find out that this is not the first time zoo workers and animal lovers have aided animals during war.  Animals historically have been among war's forgotten casualties.

During World War II, Allied bombs destroyed much of the Berlin Zoo, which at one time housed 14,000 animals.  By the war's end, only 1,200 malnourished animals remained.  U.S. airplanes dropped food and medical rations not only for the civilians of the war-torn city but also for the zoo animals.

After Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, soldiers set up camp in the Kuwait Zoo, teasing and shooting many of the animals.  At the time, Jones was director of the London Zoo, and he, along with various animal welfare agencies in the United Kingdom, organized a relief effort, sending in a team of veterinarians to nurse the injured animals back to health.

One of the most touching stories we’ll bring to light is that of Afghanistan's one-eyed lion, Marjan. This poignant tale will show how Marjan’s wonderful life turned to tragedy.  He was a gift to the Kabul Zoo from the Germans in the late 1970s.  He immediately became a star attraction, running regally in a compound along the Kabul River and drawing bigger crowds than the Australian kangaroos, the Indian elephant and the American raccoons.

Today, his face is lopsided, and he can barely walk.  He is almost blind in his remaining eye.  His injuries came from a grenade attack that is said to be the work of an Afghan seeking revenge because the lion reportedly killed a friend of his who had entered the compound to tease the lion.

Such tales prompted the outpouring of support from people across the country.

More importantly, we believe that the rescue of the Kabul Zoo is an important effort that will show that the recovery of the whole city and country is possible.

We are ready to embark on this important project and are seeking your support for a co-production.  We have budgeted this program at $250,00 US and are requesting $130,000 (for US rights) from Animal Planet.  We are able to tap into a tax fund in the UK and can cash flow this project.  Once the project is approved by Animal Planet, 100% of the funds will be released for this production.  Animal Planet will not be asked to disburse any funds until April 2003, long after the program has premiered and paid its way through advertising revenues.

We look forward to discussing this with you and embarking on this urgent program.

The response --- the show would disturb our audience.