When the Iraq War kicked off in 2003, a South African conservationist, Lawrence Anthony, realised that no-one would be bothered to look after all the animals in Saddam’s zoo, so he headed over there un-announced to see what he could do.

Anthony was not the only South African working in the city. General Jay Garner, the US commander, had a dozen former South African special forces soldiers as personal bodyguards. “They would come and hang out at the zoo. And they’d bring their machine guns.”

US soldiers also pitched in. “They were amazing. They were out fighting a war all day and they would come and lay their rifles down, pick up a shovel and ask, ‘What can I do?’ Think about it, America and Britain, two first world countries with the strongest animal rights records. Everybody’s got pets and everybody understands animals, and they had no provision whatsoever for any wild animals in Baghdad.”

He adds: “Then something amazing happened. Iraqi civilians started arriving as well, and then the Republican Guard. We had Republican Guard soldiers working with American troops in the zoo two weeks after they were killing each other on the battlefield.” As the situation improved, so did outside and official interest. Anthony convinced the US to revive the adjacent park, while international conservation groups sent staff and supplies. The zoo reopened in July 2003 and has not been attacked since. The US spent $2.5m on it last year.