Cyprus Mail 12 June 2025 - by Tom Cleaver
A man has been handed a 173,876TL (€3,852) fine after feeding cigarettes to a wild donkey in Karpasia, the Turkish Cypriot police said.
A video of the cigarettes being fed to the donkey had gone viral on social media in the early part of the week, with the Turkish Cypriot police saying that they had launched an investigation into the matter based on the video.
They said they had then identified the man in the video and issued him the fine.
Tashkent nature park director Kemal Basat thanked the police for their swift action.
He is one of the key drivers behind the “Karpasia donkeys management plan”, which aims to better conserve Karpasia’s donkeys.
The Karpasia donkeys management plan aims to “save” the donkeys and ensure they do not damage farmers’ crops in the region, and is jointly organised with the north’s ‘tourism ministry’ and the Turkish Cypriot Rizokarpaso and Yialousa municipality.
Basat had earlier told the Cyprus Mail that as part of the plan, the 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.”
