Introducing Undiscovered: The Lion, The Bear and The War Zone
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Hello there. This is Thomas Small, host of Conflicted. I've got something very special for you today. I'm here with Jake Warren, my producer, as it happens, the producer of Conflicted, who also is host of his own podcast, a new podcast called Undiscovered. Hello, Jake. Hello, Thomas. Thank you very much for having me. So, Jake, tell

Tell us something about Undiscovered. So Undiscovered brings you the stories that never cut through the noise in a news feed. So it's this idea of, you know, trying to step away from the millionth hot take of what Brexit means for tomorrow or what Donald Trump tweeted today. It's kind of meaningful, interesting stories from around the world that perhaps you either have an idea of or no idea of at all. Undiscovered stories... You see what we did there? ...that you will have overlooked...

Exactly. Well, for listeners of Conflicted, you're about to hear an episode of Undiscovered, a really fascinating story set in the Iraqi city of Mosul in northern Iraq, ancient Nineveh, the biblical city that a few years ago was conquered by ISIS. It's when ISIS conquered Mosul that ISIS really hit the big time and everyone became aware of it as a great threat. This story is set, funnily enough, in Mosul Zoo.

And the fascinating work that combat veterinarians do in conflict zones to look after animals. Exactly. And through ISIS's occupation and through the liberation of most of them from ISIS, these animals were left to fend themselves. Basically, of the 80 wild animals, only two survived, one lion and one bear.

A lion and a bear. Well, this episode of Undiscovered, I can assure you, is fascinating. Jake, if having listened to this episode, the listener wants to hear more, where can they find Undiscovered? So in all the same ways that people have been enjoying Conflicted, you know, this is everywhere that you would expect it to be. So it's on Apple, it's on Spotify, it's on Acast, basically wherever you can listen to a podcast, you'll be able to listen to Undiscovered.

I'm certain, dear listener, that having listened to this special episode, you will want to hear more. So subscribe to Undiscovered today. Enjoy. 2014 was a big year for ISIS. In June, they announced the establishment of their prophesied caliphate. They now controlled more than 34,000 square miles in Syria and Iraq, stretching from the Mediterranean coast to the south of Baghdad.

In other words, they were in complete control of an area the same size as Portugal, and it was to be a true Islamic state. Right now, you're listening to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declaring just that. This little-known jihadist had turned up unexpectedly in Mosul, Iraq's second largest city,

He turned up at the great mosque of Al Nuri, just weeks after ISIS overtook the city, to deliver this sermon. But this isn't a story about the rise and fall of ISIS and their quest to bring about the apocalypse. This is actually a story about a lion and a bear and about a zoo in Mosul, Iraq. This is a story about the almost always forgotten casualties of bloody and violent conflict. Dr Khalil, how big is this issue in the world?

I think there is many, many hundred thousand of animals are suffering everywhere. It's just it's not reported about them. Wherever there is human suffer, animals are suffering beside. And let's not forget, it's also a story about those brave people who risked their lives to save them. So you felt it was worth risking your own safety and life to save animals? Yeah, and I will do it each time.

I'm Jake Warren, and you're listening to Undiscovered, the podcast that brings you the stories you didn't know you cared about. Soldiers say the fighting has been intense in recent days, but they are in control here now. Then suddenly, the sound of gunfire from inside the local market. By 2016, it seemed the supposed might of ISIS was waning. And by October of that year, the battle to liberate Mosul, one of their major strongholds, had begun.

the people of Mosul were now trapped. After almost two years of surviving, I won't call it living, under fundamentalist Islamic rule, each day was a choice to face the least threatening scenario: flee and face a brutal execution if caught, or flee and become a refugee if not caught. Or stay and wait for the war to reach their front door. By 2017, the liberation of Mosul was declared. But by that time,

neighborhoods of family homes were flattened. Rubble and dust flooded what were once city streets and public areas, turning them into mass graves. The human loss of this conflict has been astronomical. Estimates put the civilian death toll alone at 9,000 in the battle to recapture the city. But asides from humans lost in conflict, with the local population focusing on survival, who else needed saving?

Namely, what was to become of a local zoo, controlled and then abandoned by ISIS? And the 80 animals trapped inside, what condition were they in? This is the entrance of the building. Very quickly.

Amir Khalil is a veterinary doctor who has spent the past 20 years going into conflict zones to save what he calls animal refugees. Animal refugees might not be a term that you regularly hear, which is more a testament to how we report on animals caught in war zones or natural disasters. Dr Khalil, how big is this issue in the world? Wherever there is human suffering, animals are suffering besides. If there is 100,000 of humans suffering,

there is 100,000 of animals are suffering worldwide. Amir understands that wherever there are humanitarian problems, there are animal problems. The two are intertwined. So he's made it his job to chase humanitarian problems for an organisation called Four Paws International. And he's been to some of the worst conflicts imaginable with one goal in mind: to save as many animals in need as physically possible. There is different type of conflict. Could be military, could be political.

Lac-Farpos was in Egypt during the revolution in Egypt in 2011. From Egypt, we went to Libya. I was in Tripoli Zoo, where the same Gaddafi left. His house is not far away from the zoo, 500 meters nearly. So it was a military conflict area, the zoo. A lot of animals passed away, but also a lot of animals were hungry because no one is there. So animals witnessed, in fact, what happened in this area. So we were able to help in Libya, in Tripoli Zoo.

We were able to help near to Aleppo. I was in Zimbabwe. I was in the Philippines. I was in India. I was in Sri Lanka in tsunami and Gaza. I was nearly six times in Gaza.

Amir is no amateur when it comes to navigating these conflict zones the world over. He's been doing this for a long time.

The first time I went to a mission with less experience or nearly no experience was 1998. I was in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was directly after the war and I realized not only to hear but to feel, to smell what it means when maybe thousands of humans have to be refugees and escape to see everything destroyed. And it was very interesting to see all the international media was focusing on military conflict.

But no one was speaking about animals. I saw a lot of, I would say, bad things with humans and blood and all this, and I have nothing. The only thing I have is my knowledge. I don't have weapons, I don't have a car. I realized something had to be done. And after a few weeks, I went back again to Kosovo, and we started the first veterinary clinic in a city called Libyan, which is not far away from Pristina, the main city.

And we started to help because we learned also, or I learned, even animal could be not only to be a part of, to be in captivity or suffer, but in some places in military conflict, people use animal as a tool. So if the people want to wound the other and they have revenge, they take whatever what's valuable.

Animal is valuable for agriculture, for a lot of things. So some military persons can poison water, the source of drinking for animal in the agriculture, because they are not able to steal the animal or to take the animal. Just to kill them. Just it is how to make a pain for the others. They forgot that this animal are a creature and they are part of the life. War is very ugly thing. We done a lot of disaster relief mission. We went to Kenya where it was a big drought, three years no rain.

The regions in Samburu lost over 70% of the livestock. No water, no grass, animals die. And we were able to help with a small team from FORPOS at this time with water and food, average between 10,000 to 20,000 animals per day. It was a lot of risk. We were also maybe a subject to be kidnapped at this region. But we learned that this is very important. People are very thankful when you help them.

Amir and his team view helping animals trapped in conflict zones as a fundamental part of humanity. Whatever awful situations they find themselves in, this includes one particularly curious case. In Iraq war in Baghdad, in 2003 we were able to help many animals in Baghdad Zoo.

Because Americans went there, everyone escaped, even the animal keepers escaped from the zoo. People looted and stole all the animals, nearly valuable animals at the zoo. Even the giraffe, I mean the giraffe was stolen to a flat in Baghdad. How do you put a giraffe in a flat? It sounds strange, but it was the looting time in Baghdad, where the people looted in the museum, so they took all what is valuable.

It was money from the bank. It was a lot of culture things, which is history of a nation. A lot of things were stolen. But also, animal is valuable. So they stole the animal. They will sell the animal. And they took the giraffe. And they took it in a flat. How a giraffe went to the flat, I don't know how they done it. But they stole the giraffe. They destroyed even the things which was not able to be stolen. They destroyed it. I mean, I had picture. I still keep them.

How really even the ostrich, how the wing was broken. And it's very ugly to be in war area because you just see everything is suffering. Human is suffering, animal is suffering. And you can smell. It's not only what you see, it's what you smell and you feel. You feel the fear, you feel the animal, which was abandoned and lost.

You know, you talk about this work that you've done all over the world, but on the whole, why do you think that lives of animals aren't valued as much as the lives of human beings? The only thing I do, I can just observe. I'm a veterinarian doctor, I can treat animals. I see all the time, kindness should not be divided. A kind person should be kind, not only to human. Kindness means he should be kind to human and to animal. I cannot separate, I cannot divide this word kindness.

As Amir and his team travelled the world from one dangerous conflict to the next, the fight to take back Mosul from ISIS in Iraq was culminating in the summer of 2017. With the full liberation of Mosul in sight, Iraqis are celebrating. The Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, announced the city's liberation that happened in July. But the violence continued on for months, with pockets of ISIS cells remaining.

Before ISIS, Mosul was like an ordinary city, just like other cities. Like going to work, having a normal life, seeing friends, get around, parties. So it's like normal life everywhere. This is Hakam Zarari, who is from Mosul. Like many others, he was trapped in the city through the occupation of ISIS and the preceding battle to be liberated from them. When ISIS came to the city, it became like...

Going to another universe became like living literally in hell. Everything was forbidden, even your look. You can't shave your beard, your clothes, they have to be in a certain way. There is like no internet, no satellites, no music. They just turned the city into a big jail so nobody can leave the city.

If they catch you leaving the city, they will execute you immediately. Hakam noticed that between the gunfire and struggle to scrounge and survive every day, the animals of the local zoo, who too had been trapped under ISIS control, had seemed to be abandoned. Hakam decided he had to step in and help those animals whatever way he could. Something inside me told me that you have to do that because those animals were suffering.

And at that time, nobody was, like, caring even about humans because everybody has his own problems. Everybody was hurt, was injured. Even one had his house was hit by an airstrike, so he won't care about anyone. His family members died, so of course he will not be interested to take care of the animals.

In a situation like this, no one can be blamed for pursuing self-preservation. If you were in fear for your life and for the lives of your loved ones, would you stop to consider animals trapped in a zoo amongst the chaos unfolding? Well, Hocam did. And time was of the essence here, because ISIS had long since abandoned what was effectively one of their defense locations in their fight, and the conditions inside the zoo were unknown.

Hakan wrote to the Mosul Eye, Omar Mohammed, a local professor and historian who ran a secret blog documenting the atrocities that were happening in Mosul, essentially risking his life through sharing pictures, videos and information on Facebook and Twitter with the outside world. Omar's audience grew and grew as he highlighted the realities of living under ISIS rule.

And it was through the power of social media that eventually word of these animals' plight, trapped in desperate conditions, made it to Amir and the four PAWS officers in Vienna. In the beginning of 2017, I mean, sure I hear the news on a regular basis, I would say on a daily basis, and sure I was concerned about the situation in, I would say, Mosul and in Iraq in general.

A message came to me from, I would say, from a neighbor from the zoo in Mosul. The neighbor would like to help the animal and they want to get a recipe of what to feed a bear and what to feed a lion. So sure, it was an interesting question. Sure, I answered it.

After Amir was able to make contact directly with Hakam, he did what any sensible person would do, right? He set off on his own to Mosul to see how he could help. And the only way in was to travel first to Erbil in Kurdistan. I went alone to Erbil because it was the only, I would say, entry to go to Mosul. I have to go to Kurdistan and it was easy to fly there.

I was lucky that they let me get the permit. So I was very excited. First checkpoint, second checkpoint, third checkpoint, fourth checkpoint. And suddenly I am in Mosul.

Amir's journey from Erbil to Mosul was a dangerous one. Although geographically close, it would lead him through destruction, desolation and into close proximity with death. So during the trip, it was 28 kilometers. It was very long in my mind. But during this 28 kilometers, I saw a lot of safaris. I saw people walking without shoes. I saw a family and they're leaving. I mean, they left everything. They carry a plastic bag.

I passed through the city of Mosul, it was quiet. It was, yeah, no market. You can see the shops are very, I would say, destroyed. All the buildings are destroyed along this road. All the business was looted or nothing inside, just open doors and broken. It is a war. I saw also even bodies or dead bodies or a skeleton. It was nobody. A skeleton above a lantern.

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Old city Mosul. The damage new, the city gone. And Mosul almost free of ISIS. The streets are still being ground to rubble in the last hundred yards of ISIS. The once held swathes of Iraq and Syria down here to their last bullets, we are told. While Mosul was engulfed in the battle for its liberation from ISIS in 2017, the animals were left even further isolated and starving.

Hakam and his local community were able to save some of the more domesticated species. But what would become of the wild animals? A giraffe in a flat is one thing, but a lion and a bear starving to death is quite another.

Immediately after the liberation, there was like nobody giving food to the animals. Nobody cares about them. Even the owners, they leave the city, go to Erbil. So those animals were suffering and they were like starving to death. Some of people managed to take the non-wild animals like monkeys and chickens and dogs, they took them to their houses.

but they left the bear and the lion because they are wild animals and they can't deal with them. With bombs and mortars exploding around them, the situation for Simba the lion and Lula the bear became ever more desperate. Originally there were three lions, but Simba and her mother ate the emaciated father in order for them both to survive. Her mother chose to die in order for Simba to live, leaving her the last of her family.

Similarly, Lula the bear had eaten her three cubs, either out of stress and desire to survive or to put them out of their misery. From a once vibrant zoo of approximately 80 wild animals, they now became two. I arrived to the zoo on the second day, which was on the 20th of February. It was very clear. It was very clear for me that I will say ISIS was there.

Because at the entrance of the zoo, you can see the spill port which was broken on the ground and you can see the faces of the lion and the bear was sprayed with a black color because it is haram to have a faces of human. But I learned also animal is forbidden to see their faces.

So it was clear ISIS was there. Their fingerprints even was at the zoo. At first I really waited, I think, for a few minutes. So I don't enter quickly. I just met Mr. Hakam or the persons who was waiting for me. I enter to the zoo. Sure, I look right and the left. It is really a big place. It's like a public place, garden. Nothing is intact.

What Amir witnessed was the abandoned remnants of a war zone, unrecognizable from the zoo. I saw empty cages, bones of animals was in the cages. You can see the lion and the bear beside each other, like they are neighbors. The smell of this place was, I will say, very bad. Ugly, really, very ugly smell. Because this animal was nearly...

If I'm not mistaken, 60 days, no one clean, no one take care of this place. The animal look very emaciated, very, very weak. And I have to take decision. It was very clear. It is very bad. This was the moment of truth. Now Amir had seen the reality of the situation with his own eyes. He had to act now if there was any small chance of saving Lula and Simba.

So he got to work with Hakam and a few other volunteers by his side. So it was like a moment of relief for me because I know things were going to be better for the animals. So we make them unconscious, the bear and the lion, and take them from the cages and we clean the cages and Dr. Ramir gave them some medicines and he checked their medical condition. And after that he said we will look after them until we will find like suitable solution for them.

So he gave me some money and he said you can buy the food for them. And it was a very difficult job because during that time there was like no food at Mosul, no food for people. So we were feeding the lion bread. Imagine like the king of the jungle was eating bread, also the bear. But he was forced to eat that because otherwise he will die.

It seems unimaginable. A city still reeling from being a battleground against ISIS, with food now a scarce commodity, has to somehow also support the needs of a fully grown lion and bear. Amir knew he had to buy time. So I put the target one month, I have to be ready with a plan, with a safe place for this animal.

But to go back the 28 kilometer, this was for me the most difficult logistic part, how to pass through. Now imagine if you will, the sheer logistics of transporting a lion and a bear. Now compound it with the fact they are trapped in a war zone without rule of law. It seems impossible, right? But Amir with his vast amount of experience had a plan up his sleeve.

When I left Mosul, I went to Erbil. I checked all the zoo's places. I checked about the medicines which could be needed and the vaccines, so I checked a lot of pharmacies.

I checked the airport condition, which cargo or airplanes can go. I checked logistic company. If I'm able to drive from Mosul to Jordan, how long it takes. I checked a lot of things. But the main point is I need a team. So I selected a team which is competent to join me in such a mission and also should be brave. Because at this time, if you say you're going to Mosul, all then you speak about how many people die in Mosul on a daily basis in the war.

Amir had to make sure his team were prepared to enter an active war zone. I organized a security company because if I have a team from four poles, I have to care for the security. So we organized a security company, armed car also, to be somehow protected from snipers. We took professional security persons with us.

I give instruction to produce cages in Mosul. If I want to move the animal, I need cages. It's much easier to produce cages in Mosul. But if there is no electricity, you cannot produce cages. And if they start to produce, it will take time. I also organized cages in Erbil. So I make everything double to be on the safe side. We organize the medicine. We have to organize also the place where we rescue the animal. I have to build for Lola and Simba a place. They need a home.

So we need to build. So within this month we have to build in Jordan and to improve the place that animal can be transported there and have safety. We need a lot of document. Mosul have no administration, nothing is working there. So if you need a veterinary certificate from where you will get it? Animal transport need also logistic, need a passport, need veterinary certificate. You need export, import.

You need Ministry of Agriculture. I have to communicate with Baghdad Ministry. And I realize there is political problem. I have to solve a political conflict. People in Iraq are not happy to let their animal move to Mosul. While plans were made to organize a temporary home for Lula and Simba in a sanctuary in Jordan, getting the logistics right may have been tricky for Amir. But the real difficulty came when he returned to Mosul Zoo.

He knew the only way for his plan to work would be to enlist the help of the Iraqi army on the ground. The only issue, however, they were somewhat preoccupied with the fight against ISIS. I went to the army commander in Mosul. So the army sent additional protection to open the zoo for us and to protect us. And when we went to the zoo, we took the animal, the army left us, and we drive.

To Amir's surprise, the army agreed to help. They offered protection while the four paws team evacuated the animals from the zoo and loaded them into cages and onto trucks. But then… We were very near, very near to the border and the army come and stop us. They said they get instruction, animal have to be back to the zoo. What? Do we get mad? What is going on?

The same army who helped us to evacuate the zoo, the same army guys come again and said they get instruction animal have to be back to the cage. It seems Amir was being accused of stealing Lula and Simba. But what was the main reason from the army? They said they get the information this is a public zoo, which means we took animal which belong to the Iraq government. And this is not the true because it's a private zoo, it's not a public zoo.

So we have to bring the animal back. We have to prove that this is not a public zoo. We have to bring the owner of the animal and his wellness and document, which shows that's our document. I show them the document from the export permit from the government. I said, no, animal have to be back. So the army brings animal back to the same zoo and they left the cages outside the zoo during the night.

So after meticulous planning, effort and within touching distance of success, they were now back to square one. Amir, undeterred, wasn't going to give up. We went back to Erbil. We found a lot of problems, really a lot of uncomfortable communication, threatening of killing. But we succeeded to find the owner, which we were in contact before. He offered to come to join us.

Despite obstacles of red tape and even the threat of violence, Amira managed to successfully track down the owner of the zoo who had fled Mosul for his life.

Two days later we went back to Mosul, but with the owner of the animal, which he said he signed for us agreement, deed of sale, that he hand the animal to us and the army was okay. With the hoops jumped through and the paperwork done, it was time to saddle up and try again. Time was running out to save Lula and Simba. Mission two, we took the animal again in cages, again on the car to the border checkpoint and the army stopped us again.

They said, "You cannot go with the animal." "Why?" They said, "No." The general or the big boss of the army said, "He's the one stop you. He's the one can give you a permit." Unbelievably, the rescue mission once again was thwarted. It seemed Amer needed the personal permission of a big shot Iraqi general. We were waiting communication one hour, two hour. We were very naive. We thought it will take maybe, okay, two, three hours. But in fact, the first night we slept outside,

It was really uncomfortable. It's dangerous, no food, there is mineral water, yes, you can take from some soldiers. People make fun about you, soldiers, what is this guy's crazy guy? I mean, it's a war zone, not military zone, war zone, and you're with a line and a pair.

And everyone, you have to repeat, everyone passing, asking you, what is this? Why are you here? From where are you? It was now crystal clear they were being stonewalled. And all the while, the animals' conditions were deteriorating further. I mean, we try first night, second day. Third day, we try to go to other places. They tell me, you have to go to these offices and you get a security clearance. What means security clearance? It means I have to prove that this lion and this bear are not ISIS.

How do you prove that a bear and a lion are not members of ISIS? Apart from that being obvious.

With Amir frantically seeking permissions and clearances, this could only be described by the old adage of bureaucracy gone mad. In what world could Simba the Lion and Lula the Bear be considered as potential ISIS terrorists? And moreover, how on earth could Amir prove that with paperwork? They were stuck in limbo with no sign of moving.

We went to the big office of the big guy with the helicopter coming with the American army. And I have one of my colleagues. And I was waiting. I was waiting three hours. There is this big general of Mosul army operation coming with a lot of American, Iraqi. War. They are coming from the war. I understand. And sure, I was waiting. After this, he asked me to wait until he took his...

lunch or whatever. He rests sure after the war. I can understand this. I wait. Amer knew this could be his last chance. He had to throw himself upon the mercy of Iraqi military leaders, who were, in truth, a little busy doing other things. I try to prepare myself what I tell him. And when they come out from the room, the big general and a lot of generals, a lot of generals, are you this Egyptian guy? Are you this

Sorry, stupid animal, but in an ugly Arabic way, because I speak Arabic sure. And I said, yes. He said, are you aware what we are doing? A war, ISIS, the Wa'ish. One of them said to me, you have this problem. You have a problem to animal? Okay, you can solve the problem. Take this. I put two bullets in my hand and said, solve your problem. Shoot them.

This was the solution he offered, with Lula and Simba sitting at the border, so close to safety and the chance of a future, to merely shoot them and be done with it. I was very, very annoyed, but I have to keep quiet. I have to keep in this place. I have to be wise not to really react, because any reaction will be wrong. We were nine days at the border. The chief of this military point, he was really untrustable to us. He think we are liars and...

It must be something wrong. He don't believe we come for animal. He's the chief of the secret service of this area. So anything he see, it must be a reason. Time was up. The army distrusted Amir and he knew he was never going to get the permissions required. The animals were dying and his team were in danger. He needed a Hail Mary in the form of a cunning plan. So it was nine days, nine days till we develop with the team

I would say different scenario have to go out because it was the time to go out. It was dangerous for the animal, it was dangerous for the team. I mean, to be in a military place, foreigner, soldiers, animal, it is a best target for ISIS. The team were ready to do what was needed, to go from being animal doctors to being animal smugglers. I have to spread the rumors because everything also there with cameras and all this.

So we make a plan that we bring the animal back to the zoo. And I spread that we are very tired, the team's tired, I have to bring the animal back to the zoo. And this is what I done. I took the animal from the border, third time, back to the zoo, but I don't put them in the cages. In order to enact this plan, Amir had to inform the authorities he was returning the animals to the zoo in those squalid conditions and certain death. In reality, however, he had very different intentions. We just exchange information

The car, we changed the truck. I bring the team out. And the animals, we call them the vegetables. Lula and Simba were loaded up to the trucks and hidden away to make a dash for the Kurdistan border. The great escape was on.

I was really praying that the lion don't roar. Just one roar at the wrong moment and the gig would be up. Imagine he busts through a checkpoint again, there is a different checkpoint, and the lion roars. By some magic, it worked. Amer made it with his cargo of vegetables into Kurdistan and hot-footed it to the airport.

Despite successfully crossing the border into Kurdistan, this was a race against time. How long would it be before someone noticed a missing lion and a missing bear? If the army figured out what Amir had pulled off,

Who knows what they would have done. If the army understood what happened, maybe they will arrest us at the airport, maybe they will stop us, maybe they will put us in jail. After waiting and running and smuggling, they had done it. Soon fear changed to joy as they realized they were in the clear. And when we were in the airplane with the animal, we were very, very glad.

We were so happy to be with the animal in the same place. You can see the animal, it was a cargo airplane. We were just hugging each other. We were very happy.

So you may be wondering what happened to Lula the bear and Simba the lion. Well, as of 2019, Lula is living at a sanctuary in Jordan called Al Mawa for Nature and Wildlife, which is run by a local organization called the Princess Alia Foundation, set up by members of the Jordanian royal family. And Simba made the journey to Lion's Rock, which is a big cat sanctuary in South Africa earlier this year, where he's doing really well.

Four Paws recently visited Simba to see how he was doing. The plan is to socialize him with a female lioness named Andy so he's not alone. It seems the African sun is really benefiting him as he recovers from his traumatic past in war-torn Mosul. As for the zoo itself in Mosul, Hakam tells us that with Simba and Lula gone, they were the last wild animals to live there and it's effectively amounted to the closure of the zoo.

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