"I'm going there to have a look and see what is happening at the zoos. We know that wildlife does not survive well in the current circumstances, there is no water or power in Baghdad," conservationist Lawrence Anthony told AFP.

"We've heard that some people of the public are concerned about (big) cats who are in terrible condition in some of Saddam Hussein's palaces, without food or anything."

Anthony, who owns a game reserve in eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, was scheduled to leave for Baghdad from Johannesburg Wednesday evening on a voluntary mission sponsored by a local corporate finance house.

"We have a lot of diplomatic staff who stay with us at the reserve, and we started talking about the animals in Baghdad and said why don't we do something about this?" he explained.

Saddam held lions and leopards in cages at the presidential palace in Baghdad, and recent media footage showed the animals suffering from severe hunger.

The Baghdad public zoo has been completely destroyed after serving as a battleground in US troops' struggle to take the capital last week.

The zoo had also been suffering under UN sanctions and was short of proper food, vaccines and medicine even before the US-led war on Iraq started on March 20.

Anthony said US military officials in Baghdad and the South African embassy in Kuwait supported the mission and that it could take up to three weeks to assess the situation.

"As soon as I know what is happening, I will tell a veterinarian who is on stand-by what is needed and she will put together drugs and antibiotics and come in (to Baghdad)," Anthony said.

SPACE.WIRE