The first offspring of the Kakadu parrot family was born 15 years later.

Excitement of new births is happening at Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Natural Life Park. In the park where many cubs opened their eyes to life, a parrot family from the cockatoo family had a baby for the first time. Along with the affectionate, fun, highly intelligent, and friendly cockatoos, zebras, lemurs, emus, South African antelopes, wild goats, deer, and fallow deer also expanded their families with new births.

Excitement of new births is happening at Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Natural Life Park, which is affiliated with the Veterinary Affairs Public Health Department. From zebras to lemurs, South African antelopes to deer and fallow deer, many species in the park expanded their families with 61 new cubs that came one after the other in the first half of 2024.

“These beauties are the result of serious effort”
Being a friendly species of parrots among the residents of Natural Life Park for 15 years, cockatoos, known for their ability to mimic sounds and being able to talk, had their first offspring. Veterinary Health Technician Emin Onbaş, who stated that cockatoos are among the rare species with the ability to mimic sounds and are highly appreciated by visitors, said, “We made a special effort to have offspring from the cockatoo family. We created a special area for them to feel safe. In this way, we managed to have offspring. Currently, there are 3 more eggs in the nest. We hope to have offspring from them as well. All these beauties are the result of serious effort. We are happy to have gained another cockatoo for the Natural Life Park.”

Lemur and zebra families also grew
New members were added to the ring-tailed lemur family, the favorite of Izmir Natural Life Park. Since the beginning of April, 3 male and 1 female lemurs have been added to the lemur family.
Veterinary Surgeon Gözde Budak Taşçı, who works in the park, stated that the number of ring-tailed lemurs, which have an average lifespan of 18 years, has reached 23 with the new births. Taşçı said, “Lemurs are happy and peaceful because they are in an environment suitable for their natural life. Therefore, they can easily reproduce.” Taşçı also mentioned that there were two births this year in the African Savannah where hippos, ostriches, giraffes, and zebras live together. Taşçı said, “Two male zebras were born in April and June. The zebras, which were 5 when they first arrived, have now grown into a family of 14. A happy family.”

A social and cheerful creature
The emu, known as the second tallest bird species after ostriches, gave birth to a male cub in the last days of March. Veterinary Health Technician Bengisu Ziyan said, “There are currently 5 emus. The emu is the second tallest bird after the ostrich. It can grow up to 2 meters in height. It hatches between 48 and 65 days. They get along very well with us. They are social and very cheerful animals. They never leave our side.”

“The expansion of our family makes us happy”
Veterinary Health Technician Emin Onbaş, who stated that the Natural Life Park family is growing day by day, said, “Quality care and great attention also play a big role in this. The breeding season is going very well this year. We had the first birth at the end of January. A male antelope from South Africa gave birth. In April, deer gave birth. We received 39 cubs, 25 females and 14 males. They are developing and growing well. After the deer, the birth of wild goats started. We received 3 females and 2 males from the wild goats. Their general condition is very good. Fallow deer also had very beautiful offspring. 8 of our cubs were born.” Onbaş explained that the birth and growth of such healthy offspring make them very happy and added, “Izmir Natural Life Park has experienced staff. We are all doing our best. We show special attention to each newborn. We do not neglect their care. It makes us very happy to see the cubs develop and grow. Our Natural Life Park family is expanding.”