All wildlife requires some type of care, from those that are injured, disabled or just plain exhausted, wild animals sometimes need a human hand. In Düzce and the surrounding provinces, that hand is always there, ready to treat all animals at the rehabilitation center in Efteni Lake Wildlife Improvement Area before releasing them back into their natural habitats.

Wild animals such as bears, deer, roe deer, vultures, eagles and lynx that are injured, maimed or exhausted due to an assortment of reasons in the wild are brought to the rehabilitation center affiliated to the Düzce Nature Conservation and National Parks Branch Directorate, which was put into service in 2011.

Mevlüt Şanlı Şimşek, director of Düzce Nature Conservation and National Parks Branch, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that they use everything at their disposal at the rehabilitation center to keep the animals alive.

Şimşek said that they have treated animals such as bears, squirrels, foxes, jackals, deer, roe deer, falcons and hawks and released them back into nature once they regained their health.

"We also provide services to our surrounding provinces. Since there are no rehabilitation centers in our provinces such as Sakarya, Kocaeli, Bolu and Zonguldak, they can send us. We mainly support our province of Bolu."

Şimşek stated that they released a lynx and a black vulture – or Cinereous vulture – who had come to the center last year, back to nature after their treatment.

"Two young roe deer came to our center in 2021, we are currently taking care of them. We are planning to release them into the wild as soon as May."

"In 2021, 141 animals from 41 species came to our center. Seventy-one of them were treated and released into nature. In 2022, 20 animals of 12 different species came to our center. Ten animals were treated and released into nature," Şimşek said.

"(Also), we put food such as wheat, hay, feed in the nature throughout the province so that wild animals do not go hungry in the harsh winter conditions. In the 2021-2022 winter season, we have put 15,850 kilograms (34,943 pounds) of feed in the vicinity of Kardüz, Yedigöller and Topuk Plateau. We are continuing these activities."

Şimşek also warned citizens not to remove the babies of wild animals from their habitats.

"The hunting season is slowly over. With the warming of the weather, we enter the breeding period of wild animals. During this period, animals should not be disturbed. Also, when we see the puppies of wild animals in nature, we should never touch or take them," he said.

"Our citizens bring them directly to us because they attract attention. We can't treat these animals like their own mother. Of course, we provide all the support we can, but we can't look after them like a mother. When our citizens see the puppies, they should straight away leave the area, their mother will come and pick them up."

Şimşek stated that they are also working on poaching and added that they imposed administrative fines on 108 poachers in 2021 and 33 poachers in 2022.