With only a few species left, such as a blinded lion hit in one eye when an Afghan guerrilla threw a grenade into its case, the North American Zoos and Aquariums raised $30,000 to keep the Kabul zoo running for a few more months.

Though some people feel it is a bit crazy with the world facing with so many human problems, "I think there's... a much larger appreciation of the animal side of this kind of conflict than what they might think", says the director of the North Carolina Zoo, David Jones.

The unity behind this gesture is strength as European zoos have also pledge money. What a lesson to those criticising zoos: aren't animals used here to help their peers!

(Source: St. Petersburg Times, 2 December 2001)