Animals Rescued From the 'Worst Zoo in the World' in Gaza

Four Paws, an international animal welfare group, has just completed the removal of the surviving 15 animals from the Khan Younis Zoo—dubbed the “worst zoo in the world”—in the Gaza Strip.  Years of war, few visitors, and an Israeli blockade made it increasingly difficult to keep the zoo open and the remaining animals healthy—their numbers dwindling from 44 to 15. The zoo’s owner asked for outside help, and an evacuation was organized. A tiger, several monkeys, emus, a porcupine, and other creatures were given veterinary attention and shipped to facilities in Jordan, South Africa, and elsewhere. Khan Younis Zoo, once reduced to displaying the mummified carcasses of animals that had died in their care, has now shut down.

Read more
Hints: View this page full screen. Skip to the next and previous photo by typing j/k or ←/→.

Most Recent

  • © Karsten Mosebach / GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025

    Winners of the GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025

    A collection of winning and honored images from this year’s nature-photo competition

  • ESA / Hubble & NASA, K. Noll

    The 35th Anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope

    A collection of amazing recent images made with the Hubble Space Telescope

  • Andrew Harnik / Getty

    Photos of the Week: Pony Run, Corgi Race, Rocket War

    Mourners of Pope Francis gathered at the Vatican, scenes from the the second weekend of Coachella 2025, a humanoid-robot half-marathon in China, and much more

  • Olivier Morin / AFP / Getty

    Photographing the Beauty of the North

    Images of the people, animals, and landscapes of the Earth’s arctic and subarctic regions, photographed by Olivier Morin