The main wildlife authority hopes tracking devices installed on members of endangered species will improve the efforts for their protection. Wild sheep, gazelles, European fallow deer, wild goats, the common crane, Dalmatian pelican, the eastern imperial eagle, steppe eagle and other species benefit from the tracking program by the General Directorate of Nature Protection and National Parks.
The tracking will allow pinpointing habitats of animals, their migration routes and breeding grounds. It is part of an action plan for the preservation of some 100 species.
The common crane, an animal that is widely beloved in Turkish folklore as “turna,” is among the most tracked animals. Recent surveillance showed Sivas in central Türkiye was their primary habitat and a wetland including Kızılırmak, a major river in the region, and Lake Tödürge was their main home. Officials now plan to declare two sites as a wildlife improvement area, a status for preservation.
Data from tracking devices also found that the adult eastern imperial eagle did not migrate from Anatolia but their newborn was apparently looking for new, more suitable habitats, although to no avail. The eagles’ main breeding ground was near forests between the provinces of Bolu and Çankırı. So far, only one imperial eagle left Türkiye and headed to Dagestan in the North Caucasus.
The population of the steppe eagle is in a “critical condition” according to data from tracking devices, though they remain largely migratory, heading to Chad or Cameroon in winter.
