Students find endangered heron bird in Turkey’s Sivas

SİVAS – Doğan News Agency

Two students in the Central Anatolian province of Sivas have found an endangered heron, which is rarely seen in Turkey, on the campus of Sivas Cumhuriyet University. 

Serhat Deliduman, 25, and İlker Polat, 26, found the bird lying on the ground injured by a crow after their graduation ceremony. 

After getting rid of the crow, they realized they had never seen a bird like that before and took it home. Following a search on the internet about the bird, they determined it was an Indian Pond Heron. They then warmed the bird up and gave it some water. 

Later on, the students delivered the bird to the officials of the Directorate General for Nature Conservation and National Parks. 

“We had a graduation ceremony today and while we were leaving the campus, we saw that a crow was attacking something. The crow flied away when we approached it. We then saw the bird but did not know which species it belonged to. We first thought it was a stork or partridge. We carefully caught it with a light cloth and put it in a box. Then we learned that it was an endangered bird,” Deliduman said. 

“The bird was very scared and attacked us at first. My father had to come and catch it because we were scared too. It was very cold, so we warmed it up at home,” he added. 

The bird, now under the protection of the Directorate General for Nature Conservation and National Parks, will be treated for some time before being released to nature.