Greetings from American University of Beirut, where more than 1,000 cats roam

Jane Arraf

September 17, 2025 / 5:53 am

Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.

Hope you like cats! There are more than 1,000 of them on this campus. About 1,200 actually, although it's impossible for the staff to count them all because … cats.

About 30 years ago, the American University of Beirut (AUB) started taking in cats abandoned during years of war in Lebanon. During last year's war with Israel, it gained a few hundred that were dumped at its gate.

AUB has a huge, sprawling campus full of towering trees and green spaces leading down to the Mediterranean Sea (yes, it is as beautiful as it sounds), and a lot o

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