SAN DIEGO — A rare and injured Persian leopard living in a small enclosure in Iraq now has new hope for the future, thanks to help from a San Diego man.
When Andy Blue saw a video on Facebook of a rare Persian leopard throwing itself against a fence inside a small enclosure at the Duh-Howk Zoo in Iraq, he couldn’t get it out of his mind.
“Hitting the fence like that, that’s going to lead to injuries,” Blue said.
Blue was supposed to have retired from a decades-long career in animal welfare, working with rare and endangered animals worldwide.
Blue said the leopard was caught in a steel jaw trap after eating the villagers' livestock. His back leg had to be amputated, leaving the leopard unable to hunt and survive in the wild.
“Just seeing the way he was limping and how stressed he was, knowing that there’s kids and noise all around him... he’ll never settle down,” Blue said. “You couldn’t find a worse animal to put into a situation like that. Leopards are very secretive. It really did stick with me. I’ve seen animals like this, in conditions like this, but never with three legs and caught out of the wild. It was a desperate situation.”
Blue flew to Iraq to help improve the leopard’s enclosure and bring supplies for other animals in the area. They added places for the leopard to hide and built a ladder for him to get up high, since leopards love trees and being up off the ground. They also provided logs for enrichment for the leopard and other animals in the zoo.
“If I can go in and just make the minimal improvements on certain species, that’s really what I want to do,” Blue said.
Sulaiman Tameer is a wildlife veterinarian and animal rights advocate in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. He sent the video to Blue and was the veterinarian who helped capture the leopard and amputate his mangled leg.
“You know, for me, this leopard has become a part of my life,” Tameer said.
According to the IUCN Red List, there are less than 1,000 Persian leopards left in the world.
Tameer said there are fewer than 25 in Iraq. He hopes to work with Blue and the local governments to get approval to transfer the rare leopard to a sanctuary, giving it a better way to live.
“For this leopard, I hope a good future for him,” Tameer said. “I hope our government, Iraqi government and Kurdistan government, they accept it’s better that he gets some nice future, good and healthy, in a sanctuary. Maybe he go to get some sun. He’s come from the wild. I hope he go to the wild again, at least a sanctuary.”
During his trip, Blue said they also visited refugee camps to vaccinate animals like dogs, puppies, horses and donkeys, and they also visited orphans and children to teach them about wildlife.
Blue said he raises all the money for these wildlife advocacy trips independently since he is retired from a traditional job with a steady salary. He hopes to share how much animals in conflict zones like Iraq need ongoing support.
“Many of these things don’t happen unless you’re there. You can’t make these kinds of arrangements on Zoom or by phone. These are really important decisions that can be made, and we want to make sure it’s safe,” Blue said. “Retirement, I think, is kind of overrated. I think I’d get bored pulling weeds and walking my dog, so this is what I want to do.”
Blue hopes to return to Iraq and help transfer the leopard to a sanctuary if the local governments reach an agreement on where to move the animal.
Blue is accepting donations for his next trip to Iraq to help the leopard and other animals.
