Recep Mirzan from Turkey is 63 years old. He looks like an ordinary man, but a completely extraordinary story is associated with him, because his unusual friendship with the swan, whom he saved, has been continuing for 37 years already.

It all happened in the province of Edirne, where the man was traveling with his friends. Recep found the wounded bird and left it in his car overnight to protect it from predators. The man took the swan to a farm and nursed it on his own.

Recep’s care for the animals affected it positively. The bird recovered and began to spend all the time next to its savior. It followed Mirzan and walked with him along the village paths in the evenings. It was obvious that it would be impossible to return the swan to the wild.

Then the swan got the name Garip, which is translated from Turkish as “strange”. Indeed, Garip’s behavior cannot be called an ordinary behavior. As a rule, swans avoid interaction with people, but this bird is a big exception.

Surprisingly, the swan found a common language with other animals from the farm. She made friends with the dogs and cats of Rejep and became a full member of Mirzanu’s small family. Garip would hardly have lived more than 12 years in the wild, but she turned 37 years old this year.