The Turkish postman and his bizarre 37-year friendship with a swan - in pictures

Retired postman Recep Mirzan found Garip, a female swan, 37 years ago in Turkey’s western Edirne province

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  An unusual friendship between a Turkish man and a swan he rescued has endured for decades. All Photos by AP

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  Retired postman Recep Mirzan found Garip, a female swan, 37 years ago in Turkey’s western Edirne province.

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  Mr Mirzan and a group of friends were taking a shortcut in their car when they noticed the swan, with a broken wing in a field. Mirzan immediately took the swan in to protect her from predators.

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  Since then, Garip has lived on the man’s farm in the Karaagac region.

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  Garip follows Mirzan whenever she is out of her pen, accompanying him when he is doing his chores around the farm or for his evening walks.

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  “Since I love animals, I said to myself that I should take her home instead of leaving her as prey to foxes,” Mr Mirzan said. “We got used to each other. We never separated.”

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  Garip spends most of her time out of her pen and has never tried to run away from Mirzan’s farmstead.

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  Mirzan named the swan “Garip,” which translates as “bizarre” but is also used to describe those who are down on their luck.

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  According to the UK-based Swan Sanctuary, the average lifespan for a swan in the wild is 12 years. It says that, in protected environments, they can live up to 30 years.

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