Cyprus-Forum.com

[Tim Drayton]

I don't know. Don't they sound the bells on Sunday mornings?

I thought that was the way it worked, too.

[Get Real!]

So roughly, how many wild donkeys are we talking about and what is their geographical distribution?

[Oracle]

So roughly, how many wild donkeys are we talking about and what is their geographical distribution?

Technically speaking:

These are wild feral donkeys which roam the Karpas peninsula (about 50Km).

Sahir believes number of the indigenous donkeys living in the relatively unspoiled wilderness of the Karpas peninsula have been falling rapidly since the last census was carried out by the Turkish Cypriot authorities five years ago.

Sahir blames the recent spate of killings on the authorities in the north, who he says have been unable to decide on whether to designate the Karpas area – a 50km peninsula of pristine beaches and Mediterranean wilderness – a national park.

Regarding how many have been found killed so far:

Yorganci said he and other activists have so far found only ten dead donkeys, all of which had gunshot wounds

.

Which is rather lot ....

“We cannot know how many are left, but we do know that many have been killed since the count,” Sahir said.

“There are many more out there, but we have only been able to reach ten by car,” he said, adding that many parts of the peninsula were remote and inaccessible by motorised vehicle.

A new census is to be carried out in response to the killings.

A spokesperson from north Cyprus’ ‘environment ministry’ told the Mail a census carried out in 2003 had counted around 800 wild Karpas donkeys, and that a new census would be carried out soon in response to news of the killings.

Ref: http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/ ..... archive 3rd April 2008.

[Get Real!]

Oracle, I'm sure glad you survived the temptation of replying with something like 120,000…

[Oracle]

Oracle, I'm sure glad you survived the temptation of replying with something like 120,000…

Warming up for the Cyprob nicely doncha think?

Facts and opinions ... I distribute both truly and accurately and never get the two mixed up no matter how outlandish one or t'other might be ...

Elena

[purdey]

I have shot in the North as well as in the south. I have never heard of or seen donkeys that have been shot. A donkey can be shot with a shotgun, but only a slug a solid piece of lead which is loaded into a 3in shotgun cartridge.

[purdey]

With respect of the wefare of donkeys in Southern Cyprus, please visit the Donkey Sanctuary at Vouni. Ask about the donkeys, view them, listen to the terrible lives some of these animals have gone through.
The Donkey Sanctuary recieves not one Cent from the Cypriot Government and very few donations from Cypus.
It is funded and backed by the Donkey Sanctuary in England and it's benefactors.
In short if you love Donkeys as much as you say, get your hand in your pocket and visit Vouni, Donkeys are Cypriot nationals...

[Oracle]

Not quite over but thanks to Mills Chapman for bringing us the news of a happy aside to this sad situation:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7361353.stm

Donkey campaign unites Cypriots
Greek and Turkish Cypriots have teamed up on their divided island to save endangered wild donkeys.

The initiative was launched on the social networking website Facebook after 10 of the donkeys were found shot dead at the end of March.

"Let's stop the massacre of Karpas donkeys!" says a message from the group, which has attracted more than 2,000 members.

The Karpas Peninsula in northern Cyprus is home to several hundred donkeys.

The Facebook group says the Karpas donkeys "are the symbol of Cyprus and it is our responsibility to protect them".

The messages, in both Greek and Turkish, are a new gesture of unity on the island, whose communities remain divided by a UN-patrolled buffer zone. The breakaway self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognised only by Turkey.

A group of Greek and Turkish Cypriots rallied on a beach in the Karpas Peninsula on 13 April to "Save the Cyprus Donkey".

The Karpas donkeys are a legacy of the 1974 Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus, when Greek Cypriot farmers fled the area, leaving their animals behind, the AFP news agency reports.