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Lock in

PHOTO: AP

FOR A BREATH OF FRESH AIR: Can I have some peace now?

Staff at Israel's Haifa zoo have locked the lions and tigers, carnivores, bears and monkeys in bomb proof cages to stop them escaping if there is a hit from a Hezbollah missile.

"If a rocket hits the open-air pen and one of them escapes into the city, it would not be a nice prospect," said head keeper Yoav Ratner. "Thankfully the night rooms are secure — they are like bomb shelters."

Since the crisis with Hezbollah erupted when the group seized two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others in a cross-border raid, the guerrillas have rained scores of rockets on Haifa, Israel's third largest city.

Haifa zoo's leopards and bears had also been placed in their night cages, zookeepers said. Other animals such as eagles and gazelles remained in open pens.

COMPILED BY NIMI KURIAN

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