Zoology

Local officials in central Turkey are making a special effort to protect stork nests located on top of utility poles.

Storks have built nests on at least 80 utility poles in the Kızılırmak neighborhood of the Çankırı province, which is a common migratory route for these birds.

As sea turtle nesting season ends, 100,000 babies have reached the turquoise waters of Turkey's southern coast, a Turkish scientist has announced.

Six beaches in Mersin province saw more baby sea turtles compared to last year, Mersin University Deputy President Prof. Dr. Gürol Emekdaş said Sept. 6, according to Doğan News Agency.

The fossil of a sea otter has been found in the Central Anatolian province of Çankırı, revealing 8 million years of animal life in the area.

The excavations, headed by Professor Ayla Sevim Erol of the Anthropology Department at Ankara University, have been ongoing in the area for the last 17 years.

Georgi from Kazanlak found four newborn kittens in his car on Friday morning, reports BGNES. 

The mother cat sneaked through the skylight that was left ajar, to hide from the thunderstorm on Thursday night and gave birth to four babies on the back seat. 

On Friday morning, upon leaving for work, Georgi heard meowing from the back seat and found the mother and the kittens. 

A 58-year-old man was arrested in Kavala, northern Greece, on Saturday for animal neglect after he was found to have left his six dogs locked in his apartment for at least two weeks without food and water.

The animals were found after complaints by neighbors.

The dogs were malnourished and dehydrated.

The 58-year-old is to be charged with abusing his pets.

A helicopter that scooped water from the pond of a zoo in central Anatolia to douse a nearby wildfire has caused the death of several birds.

The firefighting helicopter came from the southern province of Adana on Aug. 22 to help locals extinguish a fire spreading in the forests of Mount Ali in Kayseri province.

Owls that call the Taurus Mountains home are such mysterious and discreet animals that evidence of their existence was only discovered in 1990, only for the birds to make the most fleeting appearance since then. Now, however, the owls, known as “fish owls,” may once again disappear, this time for good.

Sea otters living on the Bolaman River near Fatsa off the Black Sea coast will be heaving a sigh of relief, as the construction of a hydroelectric power plant (HES) on the Şahsen River was halted on Aug. 19 with a decision by the district prefecture following locals's protests.  

Poachers killed an estimated 100,000 elephants across Africa between 2010 and 2012, a huge spike in the continent's death rate of the world's largest mammals because of an increased demand for ivory in China and other Asian nations, a new study published Monday found.
     

A brown bear that became caught in a man-made trap in the area of Parakalamo, in the northwestern regional unit of Ioannina, was rescued on Monday by members of the animal welfare groups Arcturos and Callisto.

There has been an increase recently in instances of brown bears, one of the most endangered mammals in Greece, and wild pigs destroying crops.