page_title: Vikos–Aoös National Park
section_title: Fauna
hierarchical_section_title: Vikos–Aoös National Park / Wildlife / Fauna
caption_attribution_description: English: A tiny (distance from camera approximately 5 cm) frog in the river Aoos near Konitsa, [:en:Vikos-Aoos National Park], Epirus, Greece.
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 Vikos–Aoös National Park preserves one of the richest mountain and forest ecosystems in terms of wildlife diversity in Greece. Numerous species of large mammals such as wolves, foxes, wild horses, and roe deer are found in the area year-round. Otters and wild cats live around the area of Mt Tymphe, with the latter being quite rare. The Pindus range, of which Vikos–Aoös is part, is home to the endangered brown bear and lynx, and is also the southernmost point of their European habitat. One of the park's special attractions is the existence of the chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), a rare species that lives at higher altitudes far from human activity, especially on the rocky cliffsides of the gorges, for example in Megas Lakos, a secondary ravine of the Vikos Gorge.
  A total of 121 bird species have been observed in the park, with twenty-six of them being considered of conservation priority. The area hosts fifteen raptor species and populations of bird species with limited distribution in Greece, such as the hazel grouse, Tengmalm's owl, wallcreeper and willow tit. Two bird communities that inhabit the subalpine and forest ecosystems are considered among the most complete in Greece: The first community includes species that nest and feed in the subalpine area, like the alpine chough, shore lark, western rock nuthatch and alpine swift, while the second comprises birds of prey like the griffon vulture, Egyptian vulture, peregrine falcon and common kestrel, that search for food in a wider zone. 
  The Vikos-Aoös area also contains a variety of suitable habitats that support dense populations of amphibians and reptiles. Vipera ursinii lives in the subalpine meadows and is considered a threatened taxon. The amphibian alpine newts (Triturus alpestris), living in the alpine lakes of the Tymphe region, mostly in Drakolimni, are associated with local folktales of dragons and dragon battles. Yellow-bellied toads (Bombina variegata) are also common in that same area. Numerous fish, such as brown trout, roach, and barbel are to be found in the park's rivers. Regarding invertebrate species, due to the structural complexity of the forests and the close proximity of various small biotopes, i.e. streams, ponds, forest openings, rocky sites, dead trees, old pollards, and coppices, a very diverse fauna exists, especially at the various ecotones, which often includes very specialized species.
caption: A tiny frog in the river Aoos
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