Saslı Natural Life Park is waiting for its visitors with its natural beauties and zoo. Here you can see many animals from elephants to lions. The zoo located in İzmir Karşıyaka Çiğli closes at 7 pm. If you want to travel, you have to go early. Turkey’s first, one of Europe’s leading wildlife park opened in Izmir. In the Wildlife Park of 425 thousand square meters, where there are no cages and wires, many species from Asian elephants to cougars, lemurs to hippos live as free and naturally as possible. Zebras running in the African savannah, giraffes gnawing tree branches and hippos cooling in the pond just beyond the ostriches…

We are not talking about a wildlife documentary on TV, you can witness this and many similar scenes live in the newly opened Wildlife Park in Izmir. Established by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality on an area of ​​425 thousand square meters in Çiğli Sasalı, İzmir Wildlife Park was opened last Sunday. One thousand 500 animals of 120 species live in their natural environment in Izmir Wildlife Park, which is one of the biggest natural life parks in Europe and costs 21 million YTL. In the park, which is a member of the European Union of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA), everything necessary for animals to exhibit their natural behavior has been considered. Cooperation with EAZA has been worked since the architecture of the project was prepared. In the Wildlife Park, which has a consultancy protocol with Uludağ University Veterinary Faculty, Prof. Dr. Nilüfer Aytuğ is a consultant. You can see many species from the endangered Asian elephants to lions, tigers and cougars, from deer to lemurs in their natural environment. The first residents of the park were transferred here from the Fair Zoo. Animal species newly arrived abroad include Asian elephants, ring-tailed lemurs, black macaques, hippos, zebras, parrot species, and about 20 species of reptiles. It is not surprising that the Wildlife Park was established in Izmir. Because serving since 1937 Izmir Fair zoo, zoo culture park started in Turkey. Therefore, the people of Izmir are sensitive and conscious about this issue. Izmirians, who have a zoo culture, now want the animals to live in a more comfortable environment, and İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Aziz Kocaoğlu also welcomed this idea. This is how the foundations of the project were laid. Çağlayan İnanlı, the manager of İzmir Wildlife Park, explains how Fuar Zoo, which adorns the memories of every İzmir citizen, turned into a natural life park: “The old zoo was a collection-type garden where only animals were exhibited. In today’s conditions, at the point where the world has come, at a time when many animal breeds are endangered, zoos are now undertaking much more important tasks.

The most important of these is to shelter endangered animal species. While housing, areas suitable for the natural life of the animal must be designed. ” Inanlı states that the second most important task of the park is to instill awareness of nature in people, especially children: “It is very important to explain the ecological balance. For them, zoos work like biology laboratories. In other words, we have duties such as teaching children to watch the living areas of the animal by designing areas that can watch animals in their natural environment, and to teach them to recognize the animal. “

EDUCATIONAL STUDIES Around 200 signs placed in the habitats of animals in the Wildlife Park include information such as the characteristics of the animals as well as the need to protect their generations. In addition, the park authorities organize trainings for school groups who come here. Theoretical information is given about animal species, endangered species and conservation, and then children are brought into contact with domesticated species in the zoo. Trainings are given by volunteer teams. There is a highly experienced team in the park, where the number of employees is 100. The staff who worked in the 70-year-old Fuar Zoo have passed here as they are. The newly recruited personnel also received long-term training and all of them received certificates. The width of the areas reserved for animals in the park, where there are 17 animal shelters in total, draws attention. Çağlayan İnanlı exemplifies this as follows: “The fair zoo was 18 thousand square meters in total. The area where giraffes, hippos, ostriches, zebras and guinea chickens, which we call the African savannah, live together, is 17 thousand square meters. So it’s the size of the old zoo. The area we reserve for Asian elephants is 15 thousand square meters. It is almost as much as the old garden. Animal habitats were kept at the maximum level in all shelters and the number of animals was kept low so that the animals could be comfortable and adapted easily. THE NEED FOR STORAGE While preparing the shelters, attention was paid to the psychological needs of the animals as well as the physical needs. Caves, cliffs, hills and pits were built for animals in need of hiding. Çağlayan İnanlı says that this is the main feature that distinguishes this park from old-style gardens: “You cannot come here and watch an animal like a painting. When you first come to the garden, you may not see the cougar. Because he may prefer to hide at that moment. There are no cages, no wires here. There are natural barriers: walls that are too high for animals to climb, ponds, puddles, and finally electrical wires for protective purposes. Electric wires do not harm the animal either, they are used for deterrent purposes. ” While preparing the shelters in the park, no details from the landscape to the climatic conditions were omitted. In terms of plants, non-toxic plants for the animal that will live in that shelter and plants that exist in their natural habitat were selected. An indoor and an open shelter were prepared for the animals. Closed shelters for animals that need heat are adjusted to the required temperature. For example, if 20 degrees is required for the giraffe, the temperature in the inner shelter is set to 20 degrees. Animals sensitive to cold do not go outside on very cold days. In the tropical center of 4 thousand square meters, which is completely closed, special heating and humidification is provided and a rainforest climate is created with special planting. Here you feel yourself in the rainforest, and you can see different species of animals in their natural habitat. This section includes crocodile pool, koi (a type of fish) pool, African turtles, snakes, lizards, frogs and parrots. It is possible to observe bird species such as pheasants, pelicans, swans, flamingos, eagles, hawks and parrots in their natural habitats in Izmir Wildlife Park, where special shelters are built for more than 60 poultry species.