Cyprus wheatear (Oenanthe cypriaca) juvenile 2

Troodos lizard (Phoenicolacerta troodica)

Cyprus water frogs (Pelophylax cypriensis)

Persian blue (Ischnura intermedia) immature female aurantiaca

The wildlife of Cyprus includes its

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

and their natural

habitats In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

has a rich flora and a diverse fauna albeit with relatively few

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s. Like most modern countries, the natural habitats in Cyprus have been steadily disappearing, currently retaining only 20% of its original habitat due to rapid

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly t ...

, usage of forests for commercial purposes,

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

and various other reasons. One of the unique features of Cyprus' habitats is the wild and sharp differences in elevations and habitats in different parts of the island as well as different climate conditions, all of which supply a diverse habitat for a unique array of fauna and flora. Terra Cypria was established as a trust in 1992 to conserve the Cypriot environment and its biodiversity.

Fauna

Amphibians

The fauna of Cyprus has four

amphibians Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbore ...

Birds

Cyprus also has over 380 identified

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

due to being on migration routes between

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and western

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

including Eleonora's falcon (''

Falco eleonorae Eleonora's falcon (''Falco eleonorae'') is a medium-sized falcon. It belongs to the hobby group, a rather close-knit number of similar falcons often considered a subgenus ''Hypotriorchis''. The sooty falcon is sometimes considered its closest re ...

''),

flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of Wader, wading bird in the Family (biology), family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas ...

and the imperial eagle (''

Aquila heliaca The eastern imperial eagle (''Aquila heliaca'') is a large bird of prey that breeds in southeastern Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign sta ...

''). There are two

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

species of songbirds, the

Cyprus warbler The Cyprus warbler (''Curruca melanothorax'') is a typical warbler which breeds only on Cyprus. This small passerine bird is a short-distance migrant, and winters in Israel, Jordan and Egypt. Like most ''Curruca'' species, it has distinct male ...

(''Sylvia melanothorax'') and the

Cyprus wheatear The Cyprus wheatear or Cyprus pied wheatear (''Oenanthe cypriaca'') is a small, 14–15 cm long passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flyc ...

(''Oenanthe cypriaca''). Both only breed on the island of Cyprus and migrate south to overwinter.

Mammals

Cyprus is currently home to 21 known

mammals Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

, of which three are

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

. The largest wild animal and mammal currently residing in Cyprus is the

Cypriot mouflon. Other notable mammals are the large critically endangered

Mediterranean monk seal The Mediterranean monk seal (''Monachus monachus'') is a monk seal belonging to the family Phocidae. , it is estimated that fewer than 700 individuals survive in three or four isolated subpopulations in the Mediterranean, (especially) in the Ae ...

and the endemic

Cypriot mouse The Cypriot mouse (''Mus cypriacus'') is a species of mouse endemic to Cyprus. Its primary habitat seems to be the vineyards and fields of the Troödos Mountains region. The mouse was recognized as a new species in 2004 by Thomas Cucchi, a rese ...

, which is the only remaining endemic

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...

on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

islands.

Reptiles

Most of the reptiles of Cyprus are harmless, and non-venomous such as the Cyprus whip snake (''Hierophis cypriensis'') and the European blind snake (''

Typhlops vermicularis ''Xerotyphlops vermicularis'', the European blind snake, European worm snake, Eurasian blind snake, or Eurasian worm snake, is a species of snake in the genus ''Xerotyphlops.'' Despite its common name, the range of the European blind snake rang ...

)''. Other snakes, European cat snake (''Telescopus fallax'') and Montpellier snake (''

Malpolon monspessulanus ''Malpolon monspessulanus'', commonly known as the Montpellier snake, is a species of mildly venomous Opisthoglyphous, rear-fanged snake. Geographic range It is very common in Spain, Portugal and Northwest Africa, being also present in the south ...

'') are nominally venomous, but neither aggressive nor particularly dangerous. In contrast, the Cyprian blunt-nosed viper, (''Macrovipera lebetina lebetina''), though not aggressive, is a large,

front-fanged A snake skeleton consists primarily of the skull, vertebrae, and ribs, with only vestigial remnants of the limbs. Skull The skull of a snake is a very complex structure, with numerous joints to allow the snake to swallow prey far larger than it ...

viper The Viperidae (vipers) are a family of snakes found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipers), hinged fangs tha ...

. Its bite is dangerous even to large mammals, including people.Atatür, M. K and Göçmen, B. (2001)
Amphibians and Reptiles of Northern Cyprus (1st Edition)
Ege Üniversitesi, Fen Fakültesi Kitaplar Serisi, No. 170, Ege Üniversitesi Basimevi, Bornova-Izmir, 63 pp. Retrieved 2010-07-21. Three of the reptile species on Cyprus, including ''Macrovipera lebetina'', are endangered. Cyprus has several species of lizards and a few species of turtles such as

loggerhead sea turtle The loggerhead sea turtle (''Caretta caretta'') is a species of oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around in carapace length when fully ...

(''Caretta caretta'', (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, 1758)).

Arachnids

Cyprus has an especially wide array of arachnids with around 60 species of spiders, including such spectacular spiders as the European tarantula (''

Lycosa tarantula ''Lycosa tarantula'' is the species originally known as the tarantula, a name that nowadays in English commonly refers to spiders in another family entirely, the Theraphosidae. It now may be better called the tarantula wolf spider, being in the ...

'').

Flora

The flora of Cyprus contains about 1800 species, of which circa 128 are endemic. The flora also include

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

such as prickly pears and the

yellow oxalis Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the RG ...

References

{{Cyprus topics, state=collapsed Biota of Cyprus