İzmir home of new species from Israel

İZMİR - Anatolia News Agency

The new guests of the İzmir Natural Park have been placed in a special section, where they will stay for 20 days and adapt their new life. DHA photo

Forty-five animals of seven different species have been brought to the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Natural Life Park, which is a member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). The animals have come from Israel within the scope of an exchange program among European zoos.

The new guests, including three zebras, three meerkats, six nyalas, three marmosets, six fruit bats and four koatis, which were brought from Israel’s Safari Zoological Center in Ramat Gan, and 20 sacred ibis, which were brought from Jerusalem’s Tisch Family Zoological Garden, have been placed in a special section, where they will stay for 20 days and adapt their new life.

Among the seven species, the nyalas, koatis, marmosets, fruit bats and sacred ibis have become the first of their kind in the İzmir Natural Life Park. The park was established on an area of 425,000 square meters in 2008.

The new guests began their trip to İzmir in Israel. They were first brought to Istanbul by plane and placed in a special truck after customs transactions. In order to prevent stress for the animals, they were accompanied by their Israeli keepers as well as veterinarians and biologists from İzmir.