BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Even the animals have gone. Baghdad's frenzied looting spree has left nothing untouched, and the city zoo is no exception.

Monkeys, bears, horses, birds and camels have disappeared, carted off by thieves or simply left to roam the streets after their cages were prised open.

More than 300 animals are missing -- only the lions and tigers remain.

The big cats, who were obviously too fearsome for the robbers, have been left neglected and starving in their enclosures.

In the days since U.S. troops entered the Iraqi capital, looters have ruled the amusement park in which Baghdad Zoo stands, roaming the site with rifles and crowbars and making off with anything of value.

"I am frightened to come here," said the zoo's vet Hashim Mohamed Hussein as gunfire crackled from across the park on Thursday. "But I have to see my animals. They are hungry but we have no money to feed them."

FORLORN

Mandor, a 20-year-old Siberian tiger and the personal property of Saddam Hussein's eldest son Uday, was slumped against the green bars of his cage, his beautifully-marked coat hanging off his bones.

He looked up briefly as the vet approached, only to hang his head again when he realized his keeper was empty-handed.

Next door, Sudqa, a nine-year-old lioness, got to her feet and let out a low moan. The remnants of her last meal lay in the corner, a white bone chewed over and over.

Hussein said in all there were seven lions and two tigers, who each consume some five kilograms of meat a day.

"Five kilograms of meat would cost me 80,000 dinars ()," said Hussein. "And there are nine animals. I have nothing like this kind of money."

He said the animals were last fed properly 10 days ago, just before U.S. forces entered Baghdad. Spent casings of shells and bullets outside the zoo and a burned-out Iraqi armored personnel carrier are proof of the invasion.

The Americans quickly swept through the west of the city, said Hussein, leaving the area in the hands of looters, who grabbed chimpanzees, Vervet monkeys, Pekinese dogs, love birds and cockatoos.

Off the main road, one of the zoo's camels grazes on a patch of scrub.

"The bears have gone too, I don't know if they took them or just let them go," said Hussein, who said he was also concerned for the well-being of Uday's even bigger collection of lions and tigers at his Baghdad residence.

With no U.S. presence in the park, would-be looters are on the prowl. One group was trying to uproot a large generator next to the model railway, ignoring Hussein's cries of disgust.

"There is no government, no security, no organization," Hussein said. "We are alone here and without help our animals will die."

Does anyone know which organization assisted in the care and feeding of the zoo in Kabul? These animals need to be saved.

If people want to kill each other go ahead. But these poor animals have nothing to do with any of the drama. It is apalling that these things happen. While it is already a disgrace that so many people have died in tthis conflict I think it is a tremendous tragedy that these animals are suffering? What did they ever do to deserve this?

This is a disgrace. These poor animals. How far could people get with the ones they stole? They probably do not have the money to feed them & I hope that some efforts will be made to locate them immediately. People withhate in their hearts are one thing-helpless animals are another.

I rang WSPA today. They are the World Society Protection of Animals. They said they helped Afghanistan and they are waiting at the border to help the Baghdad animals and all pets that are in need in Iraq. But they are not allowed in yet as it is too dangerous. It made me cry when I read about the tigers and lions at this zoo starving. The American military needs to get in there and help them. I pray that they will get food and water soon.

go to //la.indymedia.org/news/2003/02/28601.php for the last comments @ the animals. Looks like they have figured it out.