Documentary-like scenes from Bilecik

BİLECİK

Motion-sensitive cameras installed in a forestland in the Central Anatolian province of Bilecik offer documentary-like visuals from the wildlife. The cameras were set up by the Forestry and Water Affairs Ministry to detect the population of wild animals.

Visuals obtained from 20 motion-sensitive cameras in underpasses of the Bozüyük-İnegöl and Bilecik-Bozüyük-Mekece highways are expected to reveal how animals are affected by traffic, humans and the environment to give an idea about the kind of measures that can be taken to prevent them from being exposed to them.

Cameras in the region captured the photos of a wide-range of animals including bears, foxes, coyotes, blackbirds, snowbirds, sparrows, titmice, rabbits, swallows, Balkan green lizards, wildcats and deer.

Speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, Nature Conservation and National Parks Director General Mustafa Bulut said, “The inventory project was completed in 450 days between 2014 and 2017, with the participation of 10 academics.”

Bulut said images obtained from these cameras are projected to be used in many works.
“The cameras were set up in the underpasses of the Bilecik-Bozüyük-Mekece and Bozüyük-İnegöl highways to detect the population of animals in the region as well as their feeding habits and behaviors. The visuals will serve for academic works on wildlife and to keep a statistics record of the natural life for architectural projects. Works have continued since 2015 with 20 motion-triggered cameras,” he said.

The work will reveal the number of wild animals in the region, the times they use the gateways, how their behaviors are affected by factors like traffic and sounds, Bulut said, adding, “At the same time, this work will be a guide for us to prevent wild animals from being affected by human, traffic and environmental factors. We will have an idea about the measures that can be taken.”

Bulut said as a result of the motion-sensitive cameras, the variety of wild animals are also documented and that works will continue in various parts of the rural areas.