Wildlife escapades: A closer look at Azerbaijan’s beloved goitered gazelles

euronews (in English)

Goitered gazelles almost disappeared from the Caucasus region in the 1960s. Today, they’re flourishing at Shirvan National Park in Azerbaijan. We take a closer look on a day trip from Baku.

Transcript

00:00Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, is a good place to get your city fix, but it's also a great

00:07base for discovering some of the country's incredible nature.

00:10Today, I'm going to Shirvan National Park to get some fresh air and see the diverse

00:14local wildlife.

00:18Shirvan National Park is located an hour and a half's drive away from Baku.

00:22And the best way to get around is aboard a specially designed off-roading truck.

00:28The park was founded in 2003 and is home to the largest population of goitered gazelles

00:33in the entire Caucasus region.

00:37Shirvan is massive, covering 60,000 hectares, with plenty of picnic areas where you can

00:43eat lunch or stop for tea.

00:58Scattered across the park are several observation decks, where visitors can get a good view

01:14of the animals from above, or in our case, from below.

01:20The director told me we have to be really quiet so we don't scare the gazelles.

01:23This is a spot where they like to come drink, and we're going to be able to see them up

01:27close from inside this little observation deck.

01:33Shirvan is a major success story when it comes to conservation.

01:37These goitered gazelles almost went extinct in the 1960s due to overdevelopment of their

01:42native habitat, as well as poaching.

01:45But according to Shirvan's director, today there are around 7,000 of them in this park

01:50alone.

01:52Seeing them up close like this is a privilege.

01:56One of the most frustrating things about visiting beautiful places like this is your

02:00photos not doing it justice.

02:01Luckily, I'm meeting up with someone who can help me improve my shots.

02:06Alexei Lyokhin is an Azeri wildlife photographer.

02:09He's taken pictures of almost all of the indigenous wildlife here.

02:14His shots are gorgeous, the product of many years of hard work and experience.

02:19Hi, Alexei.

02:21Salam.

02:22Nice to meet you.

02:26Alexei, aside from having a very big lens, what's the most important thing to keep in

02:31mind when you take a photo of an animal?

02:56We started with birds.

02:58There are 230 different species in Shirvan National Park, including swans, pelicans,

03:04eagles, even flamingos.

03:07It's not easy to capture them on camera.

03:10As I very quickly learned, I think I need a longer lens.

03:13Yes.

03:14Yeah.

03:15It's a nice perspective.

03:16And I think it's, say, some texture.

03:19Oh, that's cool.

03:20For stock.

03:22For land animals, like gazelles and boars, it's important to hide so you don't scare

03:27them away.

03:38My crash course in wildlife photography with Alexei was a good exercise in patience.

03:43My photos still aren't up to par, but I learned the importance of waiting for that

03:47perfect moment.

03:49On my way back to Baku, I made a pit stop at Gobustan Historical and Artistic Reserve.

03:54It's best known for its ancient petroglyphs, some of which date back to the end of the

03:59Mesolithic era, around 8,000 BCE.

04:06During the day, it's filled with tourists and historians.

04:10It's a great place to take photos.

04:13During the day, it's filled with tourists and history buffs.

04:17But the scene is very different after hours.

04:23As the day ended, I made my way to the top of Boyukdash Mountain to watch the sunset.

04:28It's a secret spot only locals know about.

04:32The air smelled like mountain mint and thyme.

04:35And the fading light added a touch of magic to this moment.

04:44It's amazing to think that there are all of these very different natural landscapes

04:49all within a day's trip of the big city.

04:51It's definitely worth a trip the next time you're in Baku.

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