NC Zoo Lending a Hand in Tripoli

The North Carolina Zoo is leading an emergency fundraising effort for the Tripoli Zoo in war-torn Libya. Political chaos there has left zoo keepers without money to buy food for the animals, and they have only a week's supply on hand. North Carolina Zoo Director David Jones has led similar international fundraising efforts for zoos in Afghanistan and Iraq. He says he's happy to help Libya's main zoo as well.

David Jones: "What we're trying to do which is now happening is to make sure that when these things happen there's a center of cooperation. somewhere that everybody can relate to and so in a way it's sort of building confidence between all those people not to try and go it alone all the time."
Jones says the International Fund for Animal Welfare and zoos in Europe and the Middle East are involved in the rescue effort. The North Carolina zoo's private Zoological Society will administer funds for the Tripoli effort.