Wars, Industrialization Threaten Iraqi Wildlife

Many species of birds and animals in Iraq are under threat of extinction as a result of warfare, industrialization and hunting, an official says.

Civil war in the Kurdish north, the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War and the Gulf War made the government neglect wildlife.

“We have to move, and move quickly,” said Dr. Adel Abdullah, director general of the Environment Protection Center. “Otherwise, there will be no wildlife here within a short period of time.”