Review of Babylon's Ark

Babylon’s Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo
Author: Lawrence Anthony, with Graham Spence
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Date of Publication: March 2007

 

               In March 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq, beginning the Iraq War and what would be the end of Sadam Hussein’s rule. Within a month, the capital, Baghdad, had fallen. One of the first civilians to enter the country and reach Baghdad was Lawrence Anthony. A prominent conservationist from South Africa, he feared for the residents of the Baghdad Zoo, trapped in cages in one of the city’s worst conflict zones and additionally devastated by looting. Working with local staff who risked their lives to come to the Zoo every day, Anthony scrounged food and materials from bullet-riddled streets and earned the compassion and aid of American soldiers. This is the story of starved royal lions, black market zoo busts, intense and reckless bravery, and a beautifully stubborn effort to rescue some of the most hopeless victims of human brutality.     

What makes Babylon’s Ark a great story is that it is entirely, heartrendingly real. If there are any gaps between Anthony’s memory and his tale, they are invisible. With each chapter comes a new challenge and a harrowing solution. Anthony’s struggles range from finding a cold beer in a powerless Middle Eastern summer to rescuing a deplorably caged bear from one of the most dangerous parts of Baghdad. These struggles are remarkable not just for their face-value risks, but because of the improbable dedication they require to solve. Anthony’s bullheaded, well-meaning charge into a war zone earns the respect, protection, and gradual assistance of American soldiers. The Zoo staff and other Iraqis that join the support team are not so protected. With Hussein’s loyalists still on patrol and anti-American sentiment at an all-time high, visible collaboration with a foreigner—even if he is South African—could be a death sentence. Not only that, but all resources provided by Iraqi locals are scrounged from a city intensely and violently plundered with scant attention to the animals caught in the (literal and figurative) crossfire. Many messages are conveyed by the story, and more still explicitly stated by Anthony. The most atrocious casualties of war are those who are helpless. Cross-cultural communication is invaluable. When we destroy the environment that both awes and feeds us, we imperil not just human life, but human decency.

               Anthony’s literary skill falls a bit short of his conservation prowess. Particularly earlier in the book, excessive and awkward linguistic flourishes encumber an already detailed narrative and an oddly romantic air to a ravaged, hostile city[ku1] . However, in a story this eccentric, some strange language is arguably just another adventure for the reader. Anthony’s tangents about trials at his home game reserve or oddly specific details of his interactions with soldiers suit the story of a man devoted to an unusual life path and sanguine about the associated risks. The book seems to accomplish its purpose: to use the story of the Baghdad Zoo to encourage awareness of interdependency between humans and nature, and to encourage care for the animals we look to for inspiration – and who depend upon our care and regard. Anthony’s chronicle is a reminder that true stories can and should embolden us to attempt the improbable. The world is a little bit better because Anthony did.

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