Animals heading to safer areas
Wildlife flees Amedi mountains due to Turkish-PKK conflict
AMEDI – Wild animals are abandoning the conflict-ridden mountains of Duhok’s Amedi district and moving to safer areas due to ongoing clashes between the Turkish military and Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known by its Kurdish initialism PKK.
Turkey’s ongoing military operation against the PKK in Duhok has also led to the evacuation of several villages.
Shvan Sadiq, a resident of Kania Mala village and a wildlife activist, shared several videos of displaced wildlife, including a group of deer, with 964media. He reported an unprecedented number of wild animals migrating to the village this year due to the conflict and subsequent fires in the mountains. “Due to the lack of water, food, shelter, and safety in their natural habitat, the wild animals have left their homes and come here,” Sadiq said.
Sadiq has been voluntarily monitoring the wildlife in his area for many years. Concerned about the animals’ water supply, he has dug wells and used pipelines to provide water for them in his village.
The recent Turkish incursion into Duhok governorate and continuous conflict with the PKK have resulted in the burning of hundreds of acres of land and hundreds of trees in more than 10 villages in Amedi district, significantly impacting the wildlife and causing harm to some animals.
A high-level Iraqi delegation, headed by National Security Advisor Qasim Al-Araji, arrived in Erbil on Thursday to assess recent Turkish attacks and ongoing incursions in Duhok governorate. This visit follows a National Security Council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, where they “rejected” Turkish military “incursions and the infringement on Iraqi territories.”
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