 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(March 2023) |
| Part of a series on the |
| Biodiversity of Wales |
|---|
 |
| Part of a series on the |
| Wildlife of Great Britain |
|---|
 |
Fauna of Wales includes marine and land animals, birds and reptiles that are resident, visitors or have been introduced to Wales.
Around Cardigan Bay and the Pembrokeshire coast, minke and pilot whales are common in the summer while fin and killer whales are rare.[ citation needed ] Bottlenose dolphins are common and Risso’s dolphin and Atlantic white-sided dolphin are rare.[ citation needed ] Whales and grey seals can be seen.[ citation needed ] Herring, mackerel and hake are the more common of the country's marine fish, but basking sharks and sunfish can also be seen.[ citation needed ]
River fish of note include char, eel, salmon, shad, sparling and Arctic char, whilst the gwyniad is unique to Wales, found in two locations, Bala Lake, with a conservation population in another lake in the same area. [1]
Wales is known for its shellfish, including cockles, limpet, mussels and periwinkles. [2] [3]
The red deer, one of five native deer species, is the biggest non-marine mammal in Wales.[ citation needed ] Fallow deer (Dama dama) are found in rural and semi-urban areas, and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) are found in central and northern Wales; muntjac and sika deer can also be found. Other mammals include badgers, foxes (one of the most common mammals in Wales), hares, hedgehogs, otters, rabbits, stoats, weasels and red squirrels; pine martens are very rarely seen, but European polecat (Mustela putorius) can be found in both urban and country environments. Wales has 13 species of bat. [2] [4]
Feral goats can be found in Snowdonia. [5] In March 2021, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) granted a licence to release up to six beavers in the Dyfi Valley, the first official beaver release in Wales. [6]
About 430 species of birds have been found in Wales. Red kites (the national bird of Wales) and ospreys are some "signature species" of Wales. Dippers, choughs, puffins, guillemots, razorbills, short-eared owls, Manx shearwaters, whimbrel and plovers are also common. [2] Montagu's harrier (Circus pygargus), a rare species in Britain, has several nesting places in Wales. Red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scotica), once a common species, has reduced in population dramatically[ citation needed ] due to human hunting; they are found in the extreme north of Wales.
Adders, common lizards, notably around Oxwich Bay and grass snakes have been recorded. [2] Some sand lizards bred by Herpetological Conservation Trust volunteers and Chester and Jersey Zoos have been released into the wild. [7]
There are two populations of formerly extinct Aesculapian snake in Wales which derive from escapes. The older recorded of these is in the grounds and vicinity of the Welsh Mountain Zoo near Conwy in North Wales. This population has persisted and reproduced since at least the early 1970s, [8] and in 2022 the population was estimated at 70 adults. [9] In 2020, a population was confirmed as being present in Bridgend, Wales. This population has persisted for approximately 20 years. [10]
| Species | Species |
|---|---|
| Lesser horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) | Greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) |
| Common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) | Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) |
| Natterjack toad (Bufo calamita) | Grass snake (Natrix natrix) |
| Common lizard (Lacerta vivipara) | Pine marten (Martes martes) |
| Chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) | Common toad (Bufo bufo) |
| Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) | Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) |
| Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) | Otter (Lutra lutra) |
| Marsh fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia) | Twait shad (Alosa fallax) |
| Great crested newt (Triturus cristatus) | Adder (Vipera berus) |
| Eurasian skylark (Alauda arvensis) | Polecat (Mustela putorius) |
| Water vole (Arvicola amphibius) | Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus) |
India is the world's 8th most biodiverse region with a 0.46 BioD score on diversity index, 102,718 species of fauna and 23.39% of the nation's geographical area under forest and tree cover in 2020. India encompasses a wide range of biomes: desert, high mountains, highlands, tropical and temperate forests, swamplands, plains, grasslands, areas surrounding rivers, as well as island archipelago. Officially, three out of the 36 Biodiversity Hotspots in the world are present in India: the Himalayas, the Western Ghats, and the Indo-Burma region. To these may be added the Sundarbans and the Terrai-Duar Savannah grasslands for their unique foliage and animal species. These hotspots have numerous endemic species. Nearly 5% of India's total area is formally classified under protected areas.
The fauna of the United States of America is all the animals living in the Continental United States and its surrounding seas and islands, the Hawaiian Archipelago, Alaska in the Arctic, and several island-territories in the Pacific and in the Caribbean. The U.S. has many endemic species found nowhere else on Earth. With most of the North American continent, the U.S. lies in the Nearctic, Neotropic, and Oceanic faunistic realms, and shares a great deal of its flora and fauna with the rest of the American supercontinent.
The island of Great Britain, along with the rest of the archipelago known as the British Isles, has a largely temperate climate. It contains a relatively small fraction of the world's wildlife. The biota was severely diminished in the last ice age, and shortly thereafter was separated from the continent by the English Channel's formation. Since then, humans have hunted the most dangerous forms to extinction, though domesticated forms such as the dog and the pig remain. The wild boar has subsequently been reintroduced as a meat animal.
The wildlife of Algeria is composed of its flora and fauna. Mountains, chotts, wetlands, and grassy desert-like regions all support a wide range of wildlife. The most commonly seen animals include the wild boars, jackals, and gazelles, although it is not uncommon to spot fennecs and jerboas. Leopards and cheetahs are seldom seen.
This is a list of the fauna of Finland. Finland borders Sweden to the west, Russia to the east, and Norway to the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland, allowing an ecological mix. Finland contains many species of mammals, birds, and fish, but only a few reptiles and amphibians. This article discusses all the vertebrate animals which can be found on Finland itself, not the oceans.
The fauna of Sindh live in an area with a semi arid climate. With its coastal and riverine forests, its huge fresh water lakes, mountains and deserts, Sindh supports a large and varied wildlife population.
The fauna of England is similar to that of other areas British Isles and lies within the Palearctic realm. England's fauna is mainly made up of small animals and is notable for having few large mammals, but in similarity with other island nations; many bird species.
The biodiversity of Wales is the wide variety of ecosystems, living organisms, and the genetic makeups found in Wales.
The fauna of the State of California may be the most diverse in the United States of America. Of the Lower 48 conterminous states, California has the greatest diversity in climate, terrain and geology in general. The state's six life zones are the lower Sonoran (desert); upper Sonoran ; transition ; and the Canadian, Hudsonian, and Arctic zones, comprising California's highest elevations. California’s diverse geography gives rise to dozens of different ecosystems, each of which has its own unique native plants and animals. California is a huge state, the 3rd largest in the U.S., and can range broadly in habitat type.
The fauna of the United States Virgin Islands consists of 144 species of birds, 22 species of mammals, 302 species of fish and 7 species of amphibians. The wildlife of the U.S.V.I. includes numerous endemic species of tropical birds, fish, and land reptiles as well as sea mammals. The only endemic land mammals are six species of native bats: the greater bulldog bat, Antillean fruit-eating bat, red fruit bat, Brazilian free-tailed bat, velvety free-tailed bat and the Jamaican fruit bat. Some of the nonnative land mammals roaming the islands are the white-tailed deer, small Asian mongoose, goats, feral donkeys, rats, mice, sheep, hogs, dogs and cats.
| Physical | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Environment | |||||||
| Land use | |||||||
| Administrative |
| ||||||
| Social | |||||||
| Other | |||||||
