The above picture shows the gate of the former Animal Orphanage at Afgooye. In its hey days this facility was home to some of the most rare species of wildlife in the Eastern Africa region. Somalia was once home to many species of wildlife, some of which were not seen anywhere else. The wetlands of the river basin was an ideal habitat for these rare species of some hoofed animals and many species of reptiles and insects. In Somali folklore animals, both wild and domestic have always been used to sweeten stories and songs and many wise sayings and proverbs are based on them. At this facility many monkey species and dear, not to mention the members of the big five, were raised. The Somali National University's faculty of Veterinary Medicine used this facility as a very important dimension to its curriculum.

Now, 16 years after the collapse of civil order there are only occasional stray dogs as a representative of the animals that used to be there. Many of those animals have either been killed for food or sold to the international rare animal markets overseas. With a few dollars into some people's pockets also went our heritage and culture.

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