A bear paces around a filthy cage next to a starving lion, the only two animals left in Mosul's zoo. At the edge of their tiny enclosures lies a lioness dead from starvation.

Like much of the city, the once-peaceful animal park has been destroyed by months of fighting between Iraqi forces and Islamic State militants.

When the military advanced into Mosul, Nour Park, which had been home to a range of animals from monkeys to horses, was transformed into an Islamic State staging ground for attacks on Iraqi troops.