Thursday, 31 October (Part I)
Alsancak, İzmİr — Turkey
A great day … closing with a brilliant red sunset. Couldn’t have asked for better … except maybe for a more picturesque setting to complement the fire-red skies as the sun slowly sinks behind the clouds. But antennas, satellite dishes, water tanks, and chimneys are all part of the cityscape, so I’ll just have to settle for what I can get.
I spent most of today with Aylin and Murat at the Doğal Yaşam Parkı [natural life park; aka wildlife park] in Sasalı, Çiğli. A member of EAZA — European Association of Zoos and Aquaria — since 2011, the park opened to the public in 2008. Since then, it’s been a popular destination where visitors have an opportunity to learn more about the 120 species that live in the park.
Today’s outing took us first to the wildlife park (this post);
and then to the bird refuge (next post).
I guess I could once again go into how Mui and I are ‘see-wildlife-in-the-wild’ kind of people … how that doesn’t preclude us from visiting wildlife parks and zoos … how we do so because we recognize that these institutions serve a purpose … how animals that live their lives in captivity in zoos and wildlife parks are ambassadors for their species … how getting to know these animals hopefully instills in at least some of the visitors the spirit of helping to conserve them. No — I’m not going to go into all that … instead, I’m going to share photos — and a lot of them. And include interesting tidbits about each.
Over 1,300 animals representing 120 species live at the 105-acre (42.5 hectares) park.
African Lion
Lionesses are the primary hunters of the pride.
Green Iguana
changes color based on Temperature, health, and social status.
Corn Snake … with the old skin it has shed.
Feeds every few days, swallowing its prey whole.
Nile Crocodile ... mama
Has 64-68 teeth, four of which can be seen even when its jaws are closed.
Nile crocodile … young
babies are born after mom incubates the eggs for 70-100 days.
Left: Red Macaw
The lower bill of the adult macaw is black.
Right: European Magpie — free-flying visitor to the park.
Known for its fondness for collecting glittery objects.
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Begümcan and her calf, İzmİr | Winner, the proud papa |
The Asian Elephant family at the wildlife park.
İzmİr is the first elephant calf to be born in Turkey.
Red-Eared Slider
The slider part of the name comes from its ability to easily and quickly slide into the water.
Ring-Tailed Lemur
The name lemur comes from a Latin word that means “spirit of night” or “ghost.”
Ring-Tailed Lemur
Social animals, they live in troops consisting of 12-24 individuals.
Eurasian Lynx
The name means light, brightness … in reference to the luminescence of its reflective eyes.
Eurasian Lynx
Their numbers having been extirpated, the species is being reintroduced to Europe.
Griffon Vulture
A scavenger, it feeds mostly on carcasses that it finds by soaring over open areas.
Tawny Owl
Perfectly camouflaged, Can you find the owl perched on the rocks in the center photo?
[Click for a larger version]
Left: Peregrine Falcon
Renowned for its speed, it can reach 200 mph (322 kph) during its high-speed hunting dive.
Right: Long-Legged Buzzard
There are many different color forms, but usually has a clear orange tint to the plumage.
Haflinger Horse
A breed developed in Austria and Northern Italy during the late 19th Century,
this horse has a distinctive gait described as energetic but smooth.
Dromedary
Also known as an Arabian Camel, its extremely tough mouth
allows it to eat thorny desert vegetation.
Foreground: Wood Duck
Perches and nests in trees, and is comfortable flying through woods.
Also known as the Carolina Duck, the male of the species is one
of the most colorful North American waterfowl.
Background: Mallard
Described as a dabbling duck, feeds in the water by
tipping forward and grazing on underwater plants.
Ruddy Shelduck
A bird of the open country, it will breed on cliffs, and
in burrows, tree holes, or crevices distant from water.
White Stork
According to ancient European folklore, the stork is responsible for
bringing babies to new parents, sometimes dropping them down the chimney.
White Mandarin Duck
It is presumed that constant pairing of related Mandarin ducks has led to this mutation.
Mandarin Duck
Although poached for its beautiful plumage,
The greatest threat to this duck is habitat loss due to logging.
Foreground: Mandarin Duck
In traditional Chinese culture, these ducks are believed to be lifelong couples,
and are regarded as a symbol of conjugal affection and fidelity.
Background: Sacred Ibis
uses its curved bill to probe in mud or grass for invertebrates and other prey.
Sacred Ibis keeping company with a nesting White Stork.
Immature Sacred Ibis (left) are distinguished from adult birds by the white plumage on their necks.
Common Shelduck
During moulting season, the adults form large flocks, leaving their partially
grown young in a crèche with just one or two adults to stand guard.
Plains Zebra (Aka Burchell's Zebra)
Embryological evidence has shown that the background skin color is dark and
the white is an addition. Each individual is uniquely striped, with no two exactly alike.
Hippopotamus
its name is derived from the ancient Greek for “River Horse.”
The skin secretes a natural sunscreen sometimes referred to as “Blood Sweat.”
Hippopotamus
With the exception of going on land to eat, most of its life — from fighting
off other hippos, to reproduction and childbirth — is spent in the water.
Great White Pelican
The pouch serves as a scoop. When the bill is pushed underwater, the lower bill
bows out to create a pouch that fills with water and fish. The pouch contracts
and squeezes out the water as the pelican lifts its head, but retains the fish.
Great White Pelican
Exploited for many reasons — pouch is used to make tobacco bags, the skin
is turned into leather, the guano is used as fertilizer, and the fat of the
young is turned into oils used in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine.
South American Coati
Double jointed, they can rotate their ankles beyond 180° …
which allows them to descend trees headfirst.
Meerkat
Very social, meerkats live in colonies averaging 20-30 members.
The alpha pair often scent-mark subordinates to express their authority, and this
is usually followed by the subordinates grooming the alphas and licking their faces.
We ended our trip to the wildlife park with a quick stop at the small museum. I’m not sure if this is a new addition to the park, or if we simply bypassed it on past visits because it was closed. In any event, turns out that the building houses a collection of skeletons — of animals that died a natural death at the park, as well as at the zoo that the park replaced.
Left: Fallow Deer
Right Rear: Red Deer
Right Front: Pygmy Goat
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Ring-Tailed Lemur (left)
and Patas Monkey | Griffon Vulture
and varied animal horns | Brown Bear |
Our day wasn’t quite over, but I’ll save that last little bit for another post and end this one with an appropriate shot of the Asian elephant family …
İzmİr, begümcan, and Winner say …
The End!
