Erzurum offers important habitats for wildlife with its steep terrain and rich biodiversity.
Teams from the 13th Regional Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks are working to protect wild goats and hook-horned mountain goats, which are especially common in the northern districts of the city.
Teams use technological opportunities to track the populations of endangered species and determine their habitats, and attach collars with satellite-connected GPS transmitters to some mountain goats. In this way, data is obtained about the movement routes of animals, the regions where they concentrate and the way they use their living spaces.
While the populations and breeding success of wild animals are monitored with camera traps used in conservation studies, inventory studies are also carried out via drones.
Thermal drones, which are used especially in steep and rugged terrains that are difficult for people to reach, enable animal detection and conservation activities to be carried out more effectively.
They use thermal binoculars in the fight against poaching
The teams, who also use thermal binoculars in the fight against poaching, continue their inspections at night and in areas with limited visibility.
Teams working in coordination with police and gendarmerie units are intensifying their controls in sensitive protection areas in order to reduce human pressure on wildlife.
Measures are being increased to protect mountain goats, which descend to lower elevations due to snowfall, especially in the winter months. The teams, which keep watch on a 24-hour basis between November and April, also carry out feeding activities for wild animals in harsh winter conditions.
Selçuk Karakaş, Hunting and Wildlife Branch Manager of the 13th Regional Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks, told the AA correspondent that the region is one of the important habitats of hook-horned mountain goats and wild goats.
Stating that they benefited from technological opportunities in conservation works, Karakaş said:
"In addition to binoculars, we also try to use technology intensively in conservation control activities. We have thermal drones, photo traps and GPS collars to track animals. We use photo traps to follow the population and monitor breeding success. We carry out inventory studies with drones. We use thermal drones in conservation studies and censuses in steep lands that we cannot reach. We also use GPS collars to determine the habitats of animals. We continue our conservation work using these technological devices."
"We keep watch on a 24-hour basis between November and April."
Explaining that protecting the habitats of wild goats is among his priorities, Karakaş stated that sensitive protection zones have been created to prevent poaching within the scope of studies concentrated especially in the northern districts of Erzurum.
Karakaş stated that they carried out feeding activities in harsh winter conditions and increased inspections to protect the goats that descended to the lower areas after the snowfall, and said, "Protecting the habitat integrity of wild goats is one of the most important goals for us. The population of wild goats and hook-horned mountain goats is very high in the northern districts of Erzurum, and we carry out intensive conservation studies in these areas. We declare sensitive protection zones and especially protect these areas in order to reduce human pressure on the species. We carry out feeding activities in harsh winter conditions. "The goats go down to the bottom when it snows. We keep watch on a 24-hour basis between November and April." he said.
Emphasizing that they carry out protection work in coordination with the police and gendarmerie units, Karakaş said, "We also use thermal binoculars and thermal drones at night. We had little opportunity to see poachers in the field with the optical devices we used before. With thermal devices, we can even see them in their hiding places. In this way, our effectiveness increases. When we use technology, we can be more deterrent. The high administrative fines for poaching, especially hooked horned mountain goats and wild goats, also provide deterrence in this regard." he said.
