Zoo on move from Gaza town

A zoo in a Jewish settlement in Gaza has answered the call to evacuate ahead of the planned pullout.

Holding a newly born tortoise, zookeeper Eli Moses said the animal had an advantage over the 9,000 settlers who will be removed from their homes in Gaza next month.

"He is lucky - he has a home on his back wherever he goes. What happens to us is not known," he said.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to evacuate all 21 settlements in Gaza and four of the 120 in the northern West Bank on August, in a bid to "disengage" from conflict with the Palestinians, is due to begin in mid-August.

Hundreds of snakes, birds and other animals from the 10-acre Katifari zoo in Gush Katif, Gaza's largest settlement bloc, will join the 9,000 settlers in the evacuation.

Israeli right-wingers oppose the withdrawal, claiming the West Bank and Gaza as their biblical birthright, and have criticized dozens of settlers who have signed compensation deals with the government to leave ahead of the pullout.

'I will visit them wherever they are'

"I am not ready for the animals to suffer," said Moses, 35. "The decision has been taken by the management to find homes for them ahead of the expulsion. At least they will get better treatment than us."

Army listening posts and barbed wire are visible from the zoo's encampment, which is close to the Palestinian refugee camp of Khan Younis. Terrorists often fire slews of rockets and mortar shells at Israeli homes and army posts, which have been met by retaliatory strikes by the Israeli army.

"During a really fierce mortar and rocket barrage about four years ago, most of the babies born to the animals died," Moses said. "After this, the animals got used to it. I hope they can readjust again."

He said the animals also provided comfort for settler children who remain wary of their fate after the pullout.

"It is a really difficult time and it is nice to visit the animals. I still think the disengagement won't happen," visitor Shir Lev, 11 from the nearby settlement of Gadid said.

A spokesman for the Disengagement Authority, the government agency overseeing the pullout, said officials had begun the process of evacuating the animals.

"The animals are to be sent to a zoo and other animal centers (inside Israel)," the spokesman said.

Moses said he plans to keep a close eye on the animals in their new home.

"What else can the authorities do to me after trying to kick me from my home? It is more important that the animals are housed," he said. "I will visit them wherever they are. They are my family."