Mountain gazelle

The number of the endangered mountain gazelles, also known as "Gazella gazellas," in the southern province of Hatay, is growing, while the species' population in the world is dwindling, local authorities said on Jan. 21.

With the latest spotting, the population of the mountain gazelles has gone up by 23 percent in a year from 925 and reached 1,141.

The population of mountain gazelles, residing near the Syrian border in Turkey's southern province of Hatay, has been increasing in a pleasing manner. (AA Photo)

A protection zone has been designated for the endangered mountain gazelles in the southern province of Hatay, where they have been locked due to the rising border walls with neighbor country Syria.

A subspecies of Gazella Gazella, endemic to Hatay's Kırıkhan and Reyhanlı districts and some areas inside Syria, was discovered in 2008.

There are plans for a species of mountain gazelles, "gazelle subgutturosa," raised in Şanlıurfa's Kızılkuyu wildlife field to be released in the southeast provinces of Mardin and Şırnak, which possess the same features as the Şanlıurfa region, according to İsrafil Erdoğan, the third regional director of the Forestry and Water Affairs Ministry's Directorate of Nature Protection and National Park

Hatay's endangered mountain gazelles, which were discovered in 2008 and named "Gazella gazella," will be saved from extinction by the new Mountain Gazelle Production Station, established in the southern province's K?r?khan district by the General Directorate of National Parks.