How Iraqi man risked his life to save zoo animals from ISIS
Jan 18, 2020 0:56:16 GMT -5
Post by Berean on Jan 18, 2020 0:56:16 GMT -5
God bless this man; please pray for his salvation.
How one Iraqi man risked his life to save zoo animals from ISIS
By Rachelle Bergstein
January 4, 2020 | 3:01pm | Updated
Just an animal lover who previously had helped out around Mosul Zoo in Iraq, Abu Laith, along with family and few helpers, chose to stay amid the dangers of ISIS and saved the lives of Lula the bear and Zombie the lion (inset).John Beck
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When ISIS took over a sprawling park near his home in Mosul, Iraq, Abu Laith was confident he could protect his pregnant wife and their 13 children.
He wasn’t so sure about the zoo animals.
The brash mechanic and National Geographic enthusiast had been caring for a menagerie of lions, bears, monkeys, birds and other creatures since before the Islamic State conquered the city in June of 2014. As ISIS’s brand of religious intimidation and violence spread through Mosul, the zoo started to crumble, and the animals began dying one-by-one.
But Abu Laith was determined to save them.
“Within every living being, he knew instinctively, there was a personality, a life with needs and likes and things they hated,” writes Louise Callaghan in her new book, “Father of Lions: One Man’s Remarkable Quest to Save the Mosul Zoo” (Forge Books), out Jan. 14.
Born with the name Imad, he eventually adopted the moniker Abu Laith, which means “father of lions.” He’d grown up loving animals — from glorious beasts to mangy street dogs — despite the fact that his parents viewed many of them as haram, or “unclean” per the Koran. But the young Abu Laith saw humanity in all creatures.
Decades later, as a rowdy, redheaded patriarch, he still felt happiest among his four-legged friends.
Full story at link
How one Iraqi man risked his life to save zoo animals from ISIS
By Rachelle Bergstein
January 4, 2020 | 3:01pm | Updated
Just an animal lover who previously had helped out around Mosul Zoo in Iraq, Abu Laith, along with family and few helpers, chose to stay amid the dangers of ISIS and saved the lives of Lula the bear and Zombie the lion (inset).John Beck
MORE ON:
ISIS
Fat-wa: ISIS version of 'Jabba the Hutt’ captured in Iraq via flatbed truck
High-ranking pro-Iran militia commander reportedly shot dead in Iraq
ISIS fangirl gets 15 years for plotting to build bomb
US-led coalition pauses fight against ISIS in Iraq
When ISIS took over a sprawling park near his home in Mosul, Iraq, Abu Laith was confident he could protect his pregnant wife and their 13 children.
He wasn’t so sure about the zoo animals.
The brash mechanic and National Geographic enthusiast had been caring for a menagerie of lions, bears, monkeys, birds and other creatures since before the Islamic State conquered the city in June of 2014. As ISIS’s brand of religious intimidation and violence spread through Mosul, the zoo started to crumble, and the animals began dying one-by-one.
But Abu Laith was determined to save them.
“Within every living being, he knew instinctively, there was a personality, a life with needs and likes and things they hated,” writes Louise Callaghan in her new book, “Father of Lions: One Man’s Remarkable Quest to Save the Mosul Zoo” (Forge Books), out Jan. 14.
Born with the name Imad, he eventually adopted the moniker Abu Laith, which means “father of lions.” He’d grown up loving animals — from glorious beasts to mangy street dogs — despite the fact that his parents viewed many of them as haram, or “unclean” per the Koran. But the young Abu Laith saw humanity in all creatures.
Decades later, as a rowdy, redheaded patriarch, he still felt happiest among his four-legged friends.
Full story at link