Wildlife In Iraq

Wildlife in Iraq and Afghanistan seemed to be non-existent. So I am not entirely sure what remains in the country. But I had a feeling that a lot of the wildlife no longer exists.

I did not physically see them or any signs of the presence of the Iraq equivalent to the United States skunk, raccoon, squirrel, opossum, or porcupine. But they must be there.

While stationed in Iraq, I saw a lot of birds. Now, what kind of birds these were I have no idea. I was just glad they were there singing to us each day.

While at TQ, there was Lake Habbaniya. I remember seeing some lakes in Baghdad and Camp Danger and flying over some of them. I have been told by soldiers and locals that fish are in these lakes and can be caught and eaten.

Speaking for myself, after seeing what was in some of the canals, I doubt I would eat any fish from these lakes, even though Lake Habbaniya looked pretty clean.

I also saw something similar to a roadrunner. It stayed under one of our buildings and would come out about dusk to do some hunting. But one day it did not show up for its daily hunt. I am sure it fell victim to one of the vector control’s traps.And there were plenty of mice and rats to go around as wildlife in Iraq.

There were plenty of wild dogs as part of the wildlife in Iraq. You could hear them all around the camp at night. They were barking away. It seems there were enough of them that they could have overrun the base if they had wanted to.

We did have a pet dog for a while at Baqubah, at least until vector control got him. He was really nice. We called him Lucky because he got run over by a Humvee and survived.

In Kabul, we had several dogs that hung out with us. There was a black dog about the size of a border collie. With her was a young white pup; not hers, but no one seems to know where they came from.

I would feed them and they would come and scratch on my door at night to be let in out of the cold. The black dog was a really gentle dog. In order to stay in my room they would have to have a bath. She would let me bathe her and not give me a hassle about it. The little one hated it.

But then one day someone decided they had to go so they were hauled off. Then a white male showed up. He was gentle but very skittish. When the Afghans came in for work he would go and hide. He had a damaged front paw, probably run over by a truck.

One day he came in and just flopped on the sidewalk by my office. He would not move which was unusual for him. He let me get close and examine him and I discovered he had been shot. The bullet had gone clean through. So we nursed him back to health.

When I came back from a 30 day vacation, he saw me from far off and came running. He was glad to see me. But someone decided he needed to go as well.

In reading the Bible, Genesis 1:24, we know that in the early years there were many types of wildlife in Iraq. Some of these may have included the Asiatic Lion, the Asiatic Cheetah, and the Caspian Tiger, but for sure, snakes were in early Iraq since it is a widely held belief that Iraq is where the Garden of Eden was located. It also looks like that in the beginning, the snake did not slither upon the ground.

Today the Asiatic Lion lives in a protected sanctuary in India’s Gir Forest in the state of Gujarat. There are about 350 Asiatic Lions still living. The Asiatic Lion used to cover most of Southwest Asia to include Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan to name a few. Click here to read more about the Asiatic Lion. Today the Asiatic Cheetah only survives in Iran. It is estimated that there are about 100 surviving. The Asiatic Cheetah also used to cover most of Southwest Asia with large populations in India. Today it is completely non-existent in India.

Read more about the Asiatic Cheetah.

Today, unfortunately, the Caspian Tiger does not exist. It was found in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan and other Western Asia countries. Click to learn more about the Caspian Tiger.

It is believed that these three majestic creatures fell victim to hunters and farmers. Hunters would hunt them for sport and farmers would kill them to protect their farm animals.

One day when Iraq becomes a stable and safe country, then perhaps zoologists will be able to study and categorize the wildlife in Iraq. To the best of my knowledge, I do not believe this has ever been done for the country of Iraq.

Thank you for your visit.

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