page_title: Wildlife of Greece
section_title: Fauna
hierarchical_section_title: Wildlife of Greece / Fauna
caption_attribution_description: Phoque-Moine Monachus Monachus Phoque Moine s'installant sur un rocher d'un îlot proche de l'ile de Sérifos dans les Cyclades
context_page_description: The wildlife of Greece includes the diverse flora and fauna of Greece, a country in southern Europe. The country is mostly mountainous with a very long, convoluted coastline, consisting of peninsulas and many islands. The climate ranges from Mediterranean through temperate to alpine, and the habitats include mountains, hills, forests, rivers, lakes, coasts and cultivated land.
context_section_description: Larger, carnivorous mammals found in Greece include the European wildcat, the Balkan lynx, the red fox, the golden jackal, the grey wolf, the Eurasian brown bear, the American mink, the least weasel, the European polecat, the marbled polecat, the beech marten, the European pine marten, the European badger, the Eurasian otter and about twenty species of bat. The island of Gyaros is the breeding area for the largest population of the endangered Mediterranean monk seal, and about fifteen species of whales, dolphins and porpoises are reported in Greek waters.
  Ungulates found in Greece include the wild boar, the red deer, the fallow deer, the roe deer, the chamois and the endangered Cretan ibex. Also present are the European rabbit and the European hare, the southern white-breasted hedgehog and the northern white-breasted hedgehog, the European mole, some ten species of shrew and around thirty species of rodent (squirrels, dormice, mice, rats and voles).
  With its varied topography and habitats, Greece has a rich bird fauna. It is a meeting point for birds of three continents, the southern limit for some species and the northern limit for others. Beside the resident bird populations, many migratory species visit the country as they move seasonally between their breeding grounds and their overwintering areas. About 450 species of bird have been recorded in Greece. The Dadia Forest in the northeast is an important area for birds of prey, where four species of vulture are among the thirty-six diurnal species of raptor that have been recorded.
  Birds commonly found in the maquis shrubland include the subalpine and Rüppell's warblers, the cirl, rock and black-headed buntings, and the rock, red-legged and chukar partridges. Wetland birds are well catered for by a number of Ramsar sites such as Lake Kerkini, the Nestos Delta, and the Evros Delta and their freshwater marshes, lakes, brackish lagoons, saltmarshes and mudflats.
  Greece's rivers are brimming with aquatic wildlife too, with a diverse range of endemic freshwater fishes, around 160 species were listed in 2015 . There are also several species of lampreys, notably three species of lamprey endemic to Greece; the Epirus brook lamprey, Greek brook lamprey and Almopaios brook lamprey. Lake inhabitants include the endemic Macedonian shad, formerly a fish that was commercially fished. Within the cyprinid fishes, there is an endemic barbel; the Evia barbel, found only on Evia Island, critically endangered and suffering from increasing droughts and barriers to movement.
caption: Mediterranean monk seal on rocky shore on Serifos
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