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Any construction is banned in the zone of the Karpaz National Park in North Cyprus , but the use of already existing buildings has remained allowed. It is this very area which is home place to wild donkeys of Cyprus .

Role of donkeys in the past

Donkeys contributed to the life of Karpaz villagers in the area greatly in the past. Until the last quarter of the 20 th century, they were necessarily needed in agricultural rural life. Since owning a tractor was difficulty, the animal power was much demanded. Horses on the island were in limited numbers and in addition expensive to get, and so donkeys took the lead. There were one or two donkeys per each household. Serving predominantly as a transport power, they used to carry the cargoes of olives during the picking, cereals to flourmills and other farm products. In the past donums of land were equal in cost to donkey and large pieces of fields were exchanged for these animals. For the fact that the donkeys were and as big and strong as mules, they were much demanded. They also served the British army during the WWII. When the Brits entered the war with Greece they used donkeys taken from Cyprus together with mule riders who groomed the donkeys.

Donkeys vs. machines technology

The role of donkeys changed by the 1970s as the living conditions in Cyprus underwent changes in industry. Machine technology introduced the spread of factors into the agricultural field and village life and donkeys of Cyprus were gradually not of that much importance as before. Trucks, vans were loaded with cargoes and villagers even drove cars to the fields.

Donkeys after 1974

After the Peace Operation of 1974 many donkeys lost their owners and were left to provide food and shelter for themselves. The Karpaz Peninsula , from where many Greek Cypriot inhabitants were obliged to flee to the south, appeared to be an ideal place for donkeys and thus they were sent there. Later however, donkeys in the Karpaz became an issue of discussion in the Turkish press. Why? Over the years the donkeys had grown in number and their struggle for food and survival collided with Turkish villagers. Settled in the Karpaz, they found their crop often damaged by the donkeys. The solution of the wired fences to keep the donkeys in the specified zone showed however, ineffective as the donkeys jumped over to find food in the wider territory and the damage of crops continued.

Environmentalists and donkey preservation

After the donkeys at Karpaz were being focused politically, the Government came with the intention to sell the donkeys to Turkey where they could serve the villagers. But twelve environment-conscious non-government organizations reacted angrily against the decision. The issue was now released in the world press. Fortunately it was the environmentalists who prevented the sell-out of Cyprus donkeys and demanded head count of the animals. Subsequently the number of the donkey population showed to be smaller than had been believed. In this way the beautiful eyed donkeys were given the right to continue living in the Karpaz. Although the region rich in flora and history continues to attract tourist with all its charming and famous donkeys, Karpaz is a favourite location for tourism investment. Thus the conflict of interests between the welfare and wild donkeys remains open.

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