An urgent appeal was issued on Monday by Turkish Cypriot conservationist Kemal Basat after an injured donkey died in the Rizokarpaso area, days after being shot and left unattended.
According to reporting by Kibris Postasi, Basat, director of Tashkent Nature Park, said images circulating on social media showed the animal lying in severe pain, though it is believed the donkey had been shot at least two days earlier.
“May God not let any living creature experience this preventable and senseless suffering,” he wrote on social media, describing the incident as a direct consequence of delays in implementing a structured management plan for the region’s free roaming donkeys.
Basat argued that ongoing bureaucratic obstacles in the north have effectively paralysed efforts to address both the rising donkey population in the Karpaz peninsula and the mounting tensions with local communities.
“We are exhausted from waiting for the budget,” he said, outlining what he described as a stalled administrative process. “Budgets have not been opened, blocking notices were said to have been written but details were requested again, they were sent to the Ministry of Finance and no response came. So we are sitting and waiting for the bureaucracy to conclude.”
He warned that even if the 'Environmental Protection Agency' releases funds, allocations earmarked for 2026 will not be sufficient to cover the full needs of the project. Preparatory work alone, he noted, would require at least one to one and a half months before any field operations could begin.
“We hope that we can at least complete the work during the 2026 season and not lose it like we did in 2025,” he said.
Confirming the animal’s death, Basat stated that rescue teams reached the scene only to find the donkey had already succumbed to its injuries.
“Our friend was in agony and breathed his last before we could get there. The police were notified. We are sorry, friend, despite all our efforts, we could not save you.”
The incident comes amid renewed tensions in the Karpaz region, where some farmers have complained of crop damage and local voices have publicly called for drastic measures against the animals.
Conservationists warn that inflammatory rhetoric, combined with weak enforcement and delayed policy action, risks normalising violence against the island’s iconic feral donkeys.
Basat renewed his call for immediate funding and political backing for the Karpaz Donkey Management Plan, insisting that a structured and adequately resourced framework is the only viable way to safeguard animal welfare while easing pressure on residents.
“Funding must be created now,” he said, “so that the remaining members of their species are not condemned to the same fate.”