Emergency intervention to save animals in zoos

Project Report: Emergency Intervention to Rescue Animals in Yemen’s

Zoos

Project name

Terence, the emergency animal rescuer at zoos.

Project site

Yemen

Name of the organization applying for the grant

Sanid Organization for Relief and Development (SORD)

Report duration

Start date

July 2026

October 2026

Organization address

Capital Governorate - Shu'ub District - Al-Habari

Telephone number

0096701205757

Report prepared by

Shaif Ezz El-Din

Current job

project manager

e-mail

Programs.officer@sanid.org

mobile number

00967 775558034

Organization website

www.sanid.org

Project Report: Emergency Intervention to Rescue Animals in Yemen’s

Zoos

These are the only diverse zoos in Yemen, visited annually by hundreds of thousands of citizens from various governorates to observe the animals up close, enjoy watching them, and learn about their behavior, food, habitats, and other aspects. Visitors can then use this information to educate their children and families about the zoo. It houses many predatory animals. Reptiles and pets and the prey,

Poultry and other animals, as well as rare animals such as the Yemeni leopard and others.

These animals are important, and parks are considered an environmental treasure for our country; it is a national, international, and humanitarian duty to preserve and support them by all means and resources.

Currently, the SAND Organization is contributing to the conservation of nature and the preservation of biodiversity in the Republic of Yemen, as the organization considers protecting the environment to be protecting natural resources and ensuring their sustainability for future generations.

The organization continuously monitors the conditions in the parks and tracks events related to the animals there. It also reviews the health conditions of the various animals and ensures their well-being.

The importance of implementing the activities:

Working to protect all types of zoo animals, and taking care of their health and food, especially endangered species such as the Arabian leopard, lions, and other species.

Intervention to care for and protect animal species in zoos from the risks of disease or death is considered a severe shortage in the provision of health and nutritional care due to the scarcity of approved financial allocations in light of the critical situation in Yemen.

The lack of various health and food services will lead to the extermination of these animals due to hunger and the diseases they suffer from, and sometimes they eat each other because of their extreme need for food.

The high financial cost of caring for and protecting animal species in parks.

It is also considered in relation to the management of the park and the lack of sufficient financial allocations to the point that there are no monthly salaries to provide for all the workers in the parks, and this will inevitably lead to a decrease in the attention and care given to these animals urgently and unavoidably.

All of this motivated and encouraged the SAND Nature Conservation Organization to move forward with implementing activities that would achieve the project's goal, despite all the material and political obstacles and the country's situation, which has been suffering under the weight of wars and crises since 2011. This situation has rendered the official side incapable of fulfilling its duties in environmental protection, especially regarding nature reserves and the protection of animals, particularly those facing extinction. This is only possible through the generous support provided by donors through GlobalGiving and by organizations concerned with animal and environmental protection in general.

Activities carried out:

1. Feeding the different types of animals in the gardens with the appropriate food for each type.

2. Providing exemplary healthcare to a number of animals in the gardens (providing nutritional supplements, vaccines and vitamins through veterinarians).

3. Two field visits to the relevant authorities (Environmental Protection Authority - Agriculture Offices)

4. Raising awareness in the community surrounding the park about the importance of animal conservation.

5. A letter was submitted to the relevant official authorities stressing the need to create shaded rest areas for park visitors, install safety barriers, and maintain some of the enclosures, given the increase in visitors and the need to protect them from danger, especially young children, as a child was attacked by a lion and had one of his hands amputated.

6. Providing a number of detergents, disinfectants and treatments to treat animals that have suffered injuries.

7. Prepare a preliminary study to provide a source of electrical power, water tanks, and sewage, and present it to the Parks Department to identify the Parks Department's capabilities in preparing suitable places and obtaining approval from official authorities.

8. The meeting was held at the Agriculture and Irrigation Office to discuss the rehabilitation of the internal irrigation network and the establishment of green nurseries.

9. Meeting with gardeners and discussing with them how to care for animals in gardens and preparing a list of their training needs in this area.

10 Creating publications to promote and educate about animals, their behavior, habitats, zoo facilities, pavilions, and animals.

Challenges:

1. The prices of animal feed and veterinary medicines have risen.
2. Continuous power outages.
3. There is a shortage of veterinarians specializing in wildlife.
4. Urgent needs for the coming period:
5. Monthly funding for animal feed.
6. Electric generators + fuel for three zoos.
7. Mobile veterinary team.
8. Establish a temporary rehabilitation center at [the site].

 Recommendations:

• Establishing an emergency network between zoos in Yemen to exchange resources  

• Cooperation with international organizations to transfer critical cases abroad.

Raising community awareness about reporting cases of neglect.

• Emergency intervention to save animals in zoos (PDF)