National Parks
Turkey still has a lot of completely untouched areas of land. To protect these zones, many National Parks have been established during the last several years. Most of them are in the really thick forest areas, quite often containing lakes and rivers and a really rich world of different flowers and animals. On the Aegean Coast, on the Dilek Burnu peninsula south of Ephesus, you will find the contrast of 1.200 metre-high mountains, attractively merging into flat alluvial lands containing a rich variety of bird life. The mountains are the homeland for raptors, wild pigs, jackals, hyenas and, very rarely, leopards.
The two-thousand-metre high mountains of the Olympus Milli Parki on the Lycian coast, covered with pine and cedar trees around Antalya, also contain a huge variety of animals. In the sea, shearwaters can be seen circling in small groups. The most beautiful months are April and May when millions of lavender and wild rose bushes lure uncountable numbers of butterflies. At the delta of the Göksu there are white pelicans. The forests of the National Parks in the interior of the country, like Kovada Milli Parki between the lake of Egridir and Antalya, are home to wild pigs, roe deer, red deer, wolves and a couple of varieties of bear. There is a comparable landscape, with similar animals and plants, in the National Park of Yedigöller (Seven Lakes), situated about 50 kilometres inland from the Black Sea coast at Zonguldak.
Turtles
On the Aegean coast, on the beach close to Dalaman Airport, is a place where the ocean turtle, Caretta Caretta, lays her eggs. This is the biggest hatchery for turtles of that kind in the whole of the Mediterranean Sea, just beating the Greek island of Zakinthos. The turtle population has had problems over the last several years just because more and more tourists are visiting the area of beach where they lay their eggs.
During the breeding period, lasting two months, they can be disturbed by walkers not watching out carefully enough or, even worse, by people digging there. The young turtles hatch out during the night and immediately start their march to the sea, always attracted by the shimmering waters and the reflection of the moonlight. Quite often they become disturbed by the artificial lights of the hotels. If they stop on the way to the water they can easily be attacked by their enemies, even within reach of the safe waters.
A Birds Paradise
You can see lots of birds on sight-seeing trips or even just lying in the sun. You can see even more if you use binoculars and especially if a guide shows you the interesting places. Its position as a meeting point between the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa has given rise to a huge variety of birds in Turkey.
The most exciting seasons are spring and autumn, when huge groups of sparrow hawks, eagles and white and black storks pass through on their long journey from north to south. You can even see these fantastic sights in Istanbul - the best place is the hill at Camlica on the Asian part of the Bosporus. The best time to watch the passing birds here is in May. Even laymen are able to recognise a couple of hundred different kinds of birds. It is impossible to miss the crowds of storks, with their huge nests on top of the Minarets, roofs and telegraph poles, like circling crowds of raptors.
On the roads, thousands of crested larks hurl themselves around between the wheels of cars, and on the telegraph wires you can see thousands of black headed buntings, beautiful coloured bee-eaters and shining European rollers. Turkey has several protected areas for birds. The biggest and most important one is Kurs Cenneti (Birds Paradise) near the Sea of Marmara and there is a second one at Birecik near the border with Syria. If you are lucky enough you will be able to see the really ugly, nearly extinct Kahlibis, which is under special protection. The World Fund for Nature is trying to save the last living examples.
Hunting
As in most of the countries of the Mediterranean, hunting is a very traditional and still widely-practised activity. Because of this, many animals, such as the brown bear are already gone. Bird hunters go after wild ducks, quails, partridges and pheasants. Visitors should only go on organised trips with officially registered companies organising these hunting events. These companies know all the details about hunting dates, places, weapons and license regulations. Fishing is usually allowed in tourist places, even without a licence.
Dangers of Nature
There are no real dangers from the environment at all. Huge numbers of mosquitoes can be really troublesome, especially on the Aegean and Riviera coasts. You should always use a protection gel if you want to stay outside during the evening and be careful when walking with open shoes or short leg trousers if you leave the regularly used paths.
