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

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

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

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.

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

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.

“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.”

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

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

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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