Europe|Endangered Gazelles Make a Comeback on the Edge of a War Zone
Wild Mountain gazelles in the protected zone in Kirikhan on the Turkish/Syrian border.Credit.Ivor Prickett for The New York Times
Endangered Gazelles Make a Comeback on the Edge of a War Zone
Hunted nearly to extinction worldwide, a wild mountain gazelle finds a helping hand on the Turkish-Syrian border.
Wild Mountain gazelles in the protected zone in Kirikhan on the Turkish/Syrian border.Credit.Ivor Prickett for The New York Times
March 17, 2021
KIRIKHAN, Turkey Turkey’s southern border with Syria has become a place of hardship and misery, with tented camps for people displaced by a decade of war on the Syrian side and a concrete wall blocking entrance to Turkey for all but the most determined.
Published date: 1 March 2021 10:38 UTC | Last update: 2 weeks 1 day ago
Behind a heavily armoured Turkish military vehicle on patrol near the Syrian border, mountain gazelles give chase in a spectacular display, reaching speeds as fast as 80km per hour.
Among the spectators is the Turkish scientist and conservationist Professor Yasar Ergun - a man largely responsible for the survival of the species in Turkey’s southern Hatay province.
“The males are trying to outrun each other in order to claim victory and become the alpha this season,” he says, sticking his hand out in the direction of a herd of around 20 females, 50 metres away, some grazing, some watching the performance.