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In the West Bank city of Qalqilya, zoo veterinarian Sami Khader turned to taxidermy nine years ago when a giraffe named Brownie died during the second Palestinian uprising against Israel. Khader, who had extensive training and experience in taxidermy from years working in Saudi Arabia, stuffed Brownie and moved him to the zoo's museum. Today that museum includes a hyena, wolf, birds, camel, raccoons and a tiger. Fighting with Israel has since subsided and the zoo maintains close connections with the Ramat Gan Safari outside Tel Aviv. But administrators say that Israeli restrictions still make it cumbersome to get new animals. "We have more variations and different species as preserved animals than we have living," said Amjad al-Haj, the zoo's financial director. "If there will be more restrictions we may end up calling it preserved animals zoo." Conditions in Khan Younis -- and its zoo -- are far worse. Whereas Khader is a veterinarian and professional taxidermist, Awaida is untrained. "I use many ingredients for the embalming, not one or two, and the ingredients and method will vary from animal to animal," Khader said. "It's not enough to just go read on the Internet." And Awaida does not have the contacts with Israeli zoos that Qalqilya has, a reflection of Gaza's near-complete separation from Israel. Like the other zoos in Gaza, the Khan Younis facility is virtually unsupervised. There is no animal rights movement in the territory. Hassan Azzam, director of the veterinary services department in Gaza's ministry of agriculture, said, "We have humble capabilities," but the ministry encourages zoos. However somber the Khan Younis zoo, it does offer entertainment to children. Samir Amer, 14, snapped pictures of the animals with his mobile phone. "I have been to this place before years ago but this is my first time seeing mummified animals," he said. "They look like they are asleep. I will print out the pictures of me standing next to the lion and put it on my wall. It will be fun to show it to my younger brothers."
[Associated
Press;
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