page_title: Vikos–Aoös National Park
section_title: Wildlife
hierarchical_section_title: Vikos–Aoös National Park / Wildlife
caption_attribution_description: English: In the center of the picture is Vikos village. Behind that is the exit of the Vikos Gorge. The peak in the background is Astraka. The village Papingo can also bee seen, left.
context_page_description: The Vikos–Aoös National Park is a national park in the region of Epirus in northwestern Greece. The park, founded in 1973, is one of ten national parks in mainland Greece and is located 30 kilometres north of the city of Ioannina in the northern part of the Pindus mountain range. It is named after the two major gorges of the area and encompasses 12,600 hectares of mountainous terrain, with numerous rivers, lakes, caves, deep canyons, dense coniferous and deciduous forest. The park is part of the Natura 2000 ecological network and one of UNESCO Geoparks and spans an elevation range from 550 to 2,497 meters. Over 100,000 people visit the park each year and take part in activities including rafting, canoe-kayaking, hiking and mountain biking.
  The core of the park, an area of 3,400 hectares, comprises the spectacular Vikos Gorge, carved by the Voidomatis river. The gorge's main part is 12 km long and attains a depth of 1,000 meters. The Aoös gorge, Mt Tymphe, and a number of traditionally preserved settlements form the park's peripheral zone.
context_section_description: The park's varied geology and topography have resulted in a unique variety of flora and fauna. There are three main habitat zones: (1) Sub-mediterranean woodland which mainly consists of deciduous broadleaf forests and woodlands and extends up to an elevation of about 1,500 m (4,921 ft). (2) Combined areas of agricultural land with tree hedges and various woodlots, in addition to semi-open shrublands and rocky sites of the lower and middle slopes near human settlements. (3) Uplands with subalpine grasslands and rocky cliffs. This habitat is found above 1,500 m (4,921 ft) altitude and hosts rare bird species such as the Mediterranean golden eagle.
caption: The village of Vikos (center), in dense vegetation lying below Astraka peak
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