Newsletters
A male giraffe born at Gaziantep Natural Life Park has been named Cinar after a public vote held on social media, marking a first for Türkiye.
Gaziantep Mayor Fatma Sahin announced the name during Haberturk TV’s “Burasi Haftaasonu” program, saying the poll had ended with Cinar as the most preferred option.
The calf was born at Gaziantep Natural Life Park, described by officials and Turkish media as Türkiye’s largest natural life park, the second largest in Europe, and the fourth largest in the world.
The young giraffe, the offspring of Selvi and Sakir, has already drawn strong interest from visitors after being introduced to the public in recent days.
Celal Ozsoyler, head of Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality’s Department of Natural Life Protection, told Anadolu that Selvi became pregnant in November 2024 and that giraffe pregnancies last around 15 months.
“During this period, our male giraffe Sakir died because he had reached the end of his physiological lifespan,” Ozsoyler said. “Selvi gave birth on Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day. The birth began at night, and 1.5 hours later, Selvi gave birth. We had a healthy male calf.”
The calf’s father, Sakir, had become one of the best-known animals at the park before his death. Because of that, Sakir was also included among the possible names in the social media poll.
The birth has turned Cinar into one of the park’s main attractions, with visitors coming from other provinces to see the calf.
Okan Araman, who came from Antakya with his family, told Anadolu that they visited the park after hearing about the birth.
“We heard that a giraffe had been born in Türkiye for the first time. We came to see him,” Araman said. “I came here when I was as young as my son. I had seen Sakir’s father. Now we are excited to see his calf.”
Gaziantep Natural Life Park is one of the city’s major family and tourism destinations, and the birth of Cinar has added a new point of interest for visitors to the southeastern Turkish city.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
2 min read
