Call for donations to fund new donkey management plan in Karpasia

The Tashkent nature park in Vouno in the north of the island on Friday issued a call for donations to fund the newly formed “Karpasia donkeys management plan”.

In a post on social media, they said, “it is now up to you to change the fate of the oppressed stray donkeys which have been abandoned for years in the Karpas peninsula.”

Of the project, they said, “Karpasia donkeys will be saved, and the damage they inflict on nature and the local people’s products will be eliminated.

“The current lose-lose-lose situation will turn into a win-win-win!”

They added that they are “ready to mobilise our time, effort, and experience without expecting anything in return for this project to be implemented.”

With this in mind, they said the project, which is being jointly organised with the north’s ‘tourism ministry’ and the Turkish Cypriot Rizokarpaso and Yialousa municipality, will begin to be implemented on the ground from October 1.

They added, “the only thing missing is the resources to make this project run overnight”, and for that reason asked for donations to be made.

The cost per donkey throughout the estimated 10-year lifespan of the plan is expected to reach €200, and to this end, the Tashkent nature park said that “by donating €200, you can also take care of a donkey in Karpasia and contribute to a permanent solution to the ‘donkey problem’ for the benefit of all parties.”

Asked about the plan’s details by the Cyprus Mail, Tashkent nature park director Kemal Basat said a 70-page document describing the plan’s various steps would be published within the next month or two.

This aside, he said, “it is envisaged that donkeys will be counted, caught, subjected to health checks, and registered.

“The national park area at the tip of the Karpas peninsula will be modified, feed and water troughs will be placed in appropriate places, and scientific studies will be carried out to determine the total capacity of the area.”

He added that every donkey in Karpasia will be “registered one by one” within the next three years, and subsequently be “managed” within the scope of the plan.

“The ultimate goal is to ensure that donkeys live safely and to the animal welfare standards which they deserve, to protect nature from the unintentional damage caused by donkeys, and to protect the local people’s products from donkeys in a correct and healthy way,” he said.