Persian gazelles almost disappeared from the Caucasus in the 1960s. Today, they are proliferating in Shirvan National Park, Azerbaijan. We’ll get a closer look at them on a day trip from Baku.
In this episode of “Explore Azerbaijan”, Euronews reporter Anca Ulea discovers some of the diverse natural landscapes around Baku on a day trip to Shirvan National Park.
The park, located an hour and a half drive from Azerbaijan’s capital, was founded in 2003 to protect the native Persian gazelle, a species that nearly became extinct in the 1960s due to overdevelopment and poaching. .
Anca explores the grasslands of Shirvan in an all-terrain vehicle with park director Seymour Karimov, who takes her to an observation platform to see the gazelles up close. Shirvan National Park is now home to around 7,000 Persian gazelles, one of the largest populations in the entire Caucasus region.
Anca, frustrated by her mediocre photographs, meets with Azeri wildlife photographer Aleksey Lyokin, who gives her some tips on how to improve her photographs. They take bird photos together and capture some of the 230 species that frequent the park.
On the way back to Baku, Anca passes through the Gobustan historical and artistic reserve. The open-air museum is known for its notable collection of rock art dating back to the Mesolithic and is a popular daytime tourist destination.
As the sun begins to set, Anca heads to the top of Boyukdash Mountain to enjoy the views while sipping tea. The wild landscape takes on a mystical air at golden hour, when the day’s adventure comes to an end.
