Fauna

The Geopark’s wider area has rich wild fauna as regards both species number and the presence of rare and protected species in accordance with the Greek and European legislation. Almost all the large mammal species of the Greek mainland occur here.

Some of them are rare species, such as the bear (Ursus arctos), the wolf (Canis lupus), the wildcat (Felis sylvestris), the otter (Lutra lutra), the Balkan chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra balcanica) and the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), which occur in the area with several other common species, such as the wild boar (Sus scrofa), the fox (Vulpes vulpes), the badger (Meles meles), the hare (Lepus capenis), the hedgehog (Erinaceus concolor), the squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), and the marten (Martes foina) etc.

In the wider area of the Geopark 60 mammal species have been recorded.

Among the area’s 161 bird species, raptors are of special interest such as  the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), the golden eagle (Aguila chrysaetos), the peregrine falcon (Falco pereginus), the short-toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus), and the lanner falcon (Falco biarmicus).

There is a high presence of woodpeckers, including the large black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius), the Balkan woodpecker (Dendrocopos syriaca) and several other bird species such as the rock partridge (Alectoris graeca), the willow tit (Parus montanus) and the wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria).

Several other bird species are equally interesting, such as those associated with aquatic and riparian ecosystems and observed either permanently or seasonally, like the white throated dipper (Cinclus cinclus), the white stork (Ciconia ciconia), the black stork (Ciconia nigra) the little egret (Egretta garzetta) and very rare the night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax).

In the area there are also 11 amphibian species, the most interesting being three of them: the salamander (Salamandra salamandra), the alpine newt {Ichthyosaura (=Triturus) alpestris} and the common toad (Bufo bufo).

Of the 20 reptiles, two species of tortoises are of special interest: the marginated tortoise (Testudo marginata) and the Hermann’s tortoise (Testudo hermanni) as well as the European pond turle (Emys orbicularis).

Finally among the 11 fish species of the area we should mention an endemic species of  Sarantaporos and Aoos river, the “Pindovinos” (Oxynoemacheilus pindus) and the most common species that attract the interest of amateur fishermen such as the brown trout (Salmo trutta), the chub (Leuciscus cephalus),  the common nase (Chondrostoma nasus) and the Peloponnese Barbel (Barbus peloponnesius).