page_title: Vestfold
section_title: Fauna
hierarchical_section_title: Vestfold / Fauna
caption_attribution_description: Lynx lynx Deutsch: Wachsamer Luchs, Schönbrunner Zoo, Wien. English: Vigilant lynx, Schönbrunn Zoo, Vienna.
context_page_description: Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered the previous Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration was located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the largest city is Sandefjord. With the exception of the city-county of Oslo, Vestfold was the smallest county in Norway by area.
  Vestfold was located west of the Oslofjord, as the name indicates. It included many smaller, but well-known towns in Norway, such as Larvik, Sandefjord, Tønsberg and Horten; these towns run from Oslo in an almost constant belt of urban areas along the coast, ending in Grenland in neighbouring region Telemark. The river Numedalslågen runs through the county. Many islands are located at the coast. Vestfold is mostly dominated by lowland and is among the best agricultural areas of Norway. Winters last about three months, while pleasant summer temperatures last from May to September, with a July average high of 17 °C.
  Vestfold was traditionally known for shipping and sailing.
context_section_description: Vestfold's fauna includes species such as the White-tailed eagle, Roe deer, Moose, European hedgehog, Eurasian eagle-owl, Mountain hare, European badger, European pine marten, and Norway lemming. Rare observations of Gray wolf, European lynx, and Brown bear do occur. A wolf shot in Lardal in 2013 was the first wolf killed in the county in over 100 years. Between 700-800 moose are annually hunted in Vestfold. Larvik has one of the highest numbers of moose in Norway.
  The Harbor seal is the most commonly observed species of seal in Vestfold, and it was estimated to be at minimum 183 seals in Vestfold as of August 2014. Dolphins are uncommon, however, a Common bottlenose dolphin was observed by Nøtterøy in 2014, and a Striped dolphin was observed the same summer at Helgeroa in Larvik.
  Common European Viper is the only venomous snake found in Norway. There are two non-venomous snake species in Vestfold County: European grass snake and European smooth snake.
  Vestfold has a rich avifauna: over 130 bird species have been observed in Svelvik, while Mølen in Larvik has the national record of 320 species.
caption: European Lynx is found throughout Vestfold, including Tønsberg and Sandefjord.[159][160][161][162][163]
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