Flamingos that come from Africa and Iran’s Lake Urmia every year and stay for a while in Türkiye’s Lake Van Basin and then migrate to African countries have extended their stay around Lake Van this year due to the weather being above seasonal norms, covering the shorelines of Lake Erçek and Çelebibağı, Muradiye Bendimahi and Gevaş Görmedü wetlands in pink.

“Flamingos usually come here in late March and early April and leave in October and November. In the last few years, some flamingos have settled here and spent the winter here. While about 10,000 flamingos come here in the summer, about hundreds of them do not migrate and stay here. These numbers change every year but they increase. They spend the winter in the wetlands in Erçek, Gevaş, Muradiye and Erciş. The climate in the Van region is warm and mild. Wild animals are also good meteorologists. If they feel that their food and safety will not be in danger, they will continue to stay here. If meteorological events and global warming continue, flamingos may start breeding here in the coming years,” said Van Yüzüncü Yıl University (Van YYU) Wild Animals Rehabilitation Center Director Prof. Dr. Lokman Aslan.

Şükrü Akyüz – Ahmet Kavak