A donkey has died after being hit by two cars on the main road on the Karpas peninsula, Cyprus wildlife research institute director Kemal Basat said on Sunday night.

He said the donkey was hit around 500 metres from the Karpaz Gate Marina, near the village of Ayia Triada, and that the first vehicle hit the donkey and then “left the scene without informing anyone about the accident”.

A short while later, he said, a bystander noticed the donkey lying prone on the side of the road and called the north’s wildlife support line to report the incident.

At that very moment, however, “a second vehicle struck the donkey”, he said.

He said the second vehicle “sustained significant damage”, but that the driver “escaped unharmed” from the collision.

“The donkey was not so lucky. Unfortunately, although our teams arrived quickly, it was already dead by the time we arrived,” he said.

He added that road traffic accidents involving donkeys “are a nightmare” for the Karpasia region, and drew attention to the Karpasia donkeys management plan which he is spearheading.

“The project has begun, but its full completion will only be possible if the promises made for financial support are kept and the budget is met,” he said.

The Karpasia donkeys management plan aims to “save” the donkeys and ensure they do not damage farmers’ crops in the region, and is jointly organised by the Tashkent nature park, of which Basat is also a director, the north’s ‘tourism ministry’, and the Turkish Cypriot Rizokarpaso and Yialousa municipality.

Basat had earlier told the Cyprus Mail that as part of the plan, the donkeys will be counted, caught, subjected to health checks and registered.

“The national park area at the tip of the Karpas peninsula will be modified, feed and water troughs will be placed in appropriate places, and scientific studies will be carried out to determine the total capacity of the area.”