Animals as Diplomats

While Zimbabwean officials describe their recent decision to sell a host of animals to North Korea as “purely a business arrangement,” zoo animals have often been used as tools in the diplomatic process.  A Foreign Policy article traces the history of the practice, starting with Jumbo the elephant in the 1800s.  Zoo animals also commonly suffer in conflicts: eight days after the 2003 Iraq invasion, only 35 of the more than 650 animals in the Baghdad zoo remained. [%comments]