12-year-old boy becomes social media phenomenon with animal videos

Jiyan Alpan – BALIKESİR

A 12-year-old boy in the Marmara province of Balıkesir has become a social media phenomenon after posting videos of him explaining animals he finds in his village on his YouTube channel.

Mehmet Kanur currently has over 60 videos on his channel, where he describes animals such as the sheltopusik, also commonly called the European legless lizard, scorpions, silk worms and centipedes.

Mehmet says that his love for animals started at a very young age. Living in the Sındırgı district’s Armutlu village, Mehmet looks after a zebra finch and many chickens at his home. He says that he sees animals as his friends and becomes happy and feels relaxed as he talks with them.

After watching animal videos on YouTube, Mehmet one day thought that he himself could also produce similar videos. With his father İsmail Kanur’s support, Mehmet then started to produce videos of himself and animals, with him explaining the features of the animals.

Mehmet’s first video is on pigeons. But he later quickly expanded his profile, now having more than 60 videos on his YouTube channel. The videos are about both companion animals and animals found in nature.

In his videos, Mehmet sometimes holds the animals in his hands, while giving information about them, and sometimes he draws near to them, in an attempt not to scare them off. He talks about where the relevant animal is found in nature, how they live and their food sources.

“I prepare [for the videos] by doing research on books and the internet, apart from relying on my own knowledge. It is not at all difficult to find animals here [in the village]. As time passes, I get to search more and learn more. I will continue to produce videos,” says Mehmet.

Mehmet also says that many people have irrational fears about animals. “People are scared of even harmless animals and try to kill them. I am sad about this. In my videos, I explain that they are also living beings and should not be killed,” says Mehmet.

Mehmet’s father has said that his son had been curious about animals since he was little. “When he picks up animals, his eyes sparkle. He reads all the time about animals and conducts research. He will continue to do research about animals around our house and produce more videos. We will always stand by him,” he said.