Rare bird found shot in Turkey’s south

OSMANİYE

DHA photo

A rare species of bird was found shot on Oct. 7 on the roadside in the southern province of Osmaniye, Doğan News Agency has reported.

Retired teacher Cengiz Gülçür spotted the red-wattled lapwing, which had sustained buckshot wounds to its wings, while returning to Osmaniye from the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, where he was on vacation.

Gülçür took the wounded bird to a nearby rehabilitation center under the Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks for treatment.

Vets at the rehabilitation center examined the bird and it was taken under treatment after an initial diagnosis. 

Osmaniye Nature Wildlife Protection and Research Association head Bünyamin Akın said they hoped to release the bird back into the wild after treatment.

“If it does not get better after the treatment, we will sent it to the Gaziantep Zoo,” Akın added. 

The red-wattled lapwing is a rarely seen species sometimes spotted in Turkey’s southeastern provinces such as Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, Batman, Mardin and Şırnak.