Turkish bird watcher eager to visit China, land of wildlife protection

ANKARA－Emin Yogurtcuoglu, a Turkish self-proclaimed "bird detective", is constantly seeking new bird species around the world, and he wants to make his next trip to China, land of many species and home to abundant wildlife.

Starting his bird observation at the age of 12, the 35-year-old bird watcher has traveled to almost every region of Turkey, and became famous in his country and abroad on social media through the vibrant pictures he took during his travels.

"Among all animals, birds are the most accessible ones. They are the closest to humans. Birds are full of colors, they can fly, change countries and migrate," he told Xinhua in an interview on the shores of Lake Mogan, located 20 km of Turkey's capital Ankara.

"You can see hundreds, thousands of different species of birds in all corners of the world. They pushed me to travel to different zones of the globe," the man says.

Beyond Turkey, Yogurtcuoglu has stepped foot on no fewer than six of the world's seven continents, including Antarctica, and seen 40 percent of the 10,000 bird species known to exist on the planet.

The wildlife expert wishes now to travel to China.

"I have extensively studied China's bird population, and there are over 1,300 species and I would like to go there, especially Sichuan and Yunnan provinces harboring endemic species," he says.

Yogurtcuoglu applauded China's push for animal conservation and scientific research.

"When I go to China, I would like to learn on this issue from my counterparts and see what lessons we can pass on to my country. China has made very serious efforts on wildlife protection. They make considerable (scientific) studies on bird populations," he says.

Xinhua