ISIS jihadis turned Mosul Zoo into ‘staging post’ for months-long battles with coalition forces during which abandoned creatures were starved to death

THIS starving lion and emaciated bear are the tragic sole survivors of the Mosul Zoo caught in the crossfire of the battle to overthrow ISIS.

Caring volunteers and residents are battling save the brave creatures which survived the brutal conflict in the Iraqi city.

Iraqi troops have finally recaptured the eastern part of the city where the zoo is located.

Now these two starving animals have been fed for the first time in a month.

Saif al-Bassef, a volunteer sent by the Kurdistan Organisation for Animal Rights which delivered the supplies, said: "It's shameful to watch the animals struggle, they need help.

"They are not connected to the war."

Shocking pictures from inside the zoo show the ramshackle cages and filthy conditions which the lion and bear lived in.

A heartbreaking image captures the final lion staring at the grave of a lioness.

When military advances began in Mosul, Nour Park was turned from a home for monkeys, horses and other animals into a staging ground for Islamic State militants.

Neighbours fed the animals until fighting became too fierce for many to leave their homes.

Many animals were killed, others died of starvation and some escaped.

Park owner Abu Omar told Reuters: "The battle lasted for three or four months.

"There was a guard that used to come and feed them.

";When the battle intensified, it was impossible for the guard and animal handler to reach them."

At one point a cage broke open allowing monkeys to escape and wreak havoc on residents.

A child at the zoo yesterday displayed a red mark from a monkey scratch.