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European Wildlife

Europe has a lot to offer in terms of its culture and its scenery and each of the countries on the continent is a unique and exciting place to explore thanks to this incredible variation. But what about the European wildlife wildlife? Surely with such a varied range of climates and scenery there would be an equally impressive range of animals and creatures living there? Well you wouldn’t be wrong for thinking so, and there is plenty of European wildlife to see across the continent that can be hard to find elsewhere – and some animals found only in Europe. Here we will look at which ones those are, the rare species of animals found only in Europe.

The Alpine Chamois: The alpine chamois is a species of antelope living in the European mountains, namely the European Alps, the Tatra Mountains, the Carpathian mountains of Romania, the Balkans, some parts of Turky, South Island New Zealand and the Caucasus. It is a rare species and some subspecies are under protection of the EU as some of the European wildlife exclusive to the continent. They have short straight horns, rich brown fur with a white face, and enjoy high altitudes and jagged rocky terrains.

The European Mountain Goat: The name of this animal betrays the fact that it is another of our animals only found in Europe. Again this species enjoys high altitudes and climbing on rocky surfaces but is less rare.

Red Squirrel: Though found elsewhere and not exclusively European wildlife, the red squirrel is nevertheless very much an animal associated with Great Britain and England and is a native form of European wildlife. Sadly however the red squirrel is actually now low in number across England and Europe having been overrun by the grey squirrels introduced from North America. As such red squirrels are found mostly in Wales or islands such as ‘Brownsea Island’.

European Lynx: Who knew that European wildlife included wild cats? The European lynx is a very unique cat that weighs up to 80lbs and that preys on small deer, hares, foxes and other species of European wildlife. Found in Poland and elsewhere. The Eurasian lynx is the biggest small cat.

European Beaver: One of the world’s very largest rodents measuring up to 4.5 feet and weighing up to 70lbs (nearly as heavy as the European Lynx!).

Gray Wolves: Gray wolves (or grey wolves) are the largest wolf species and the genus we most often picture when thinking of wolves. Though they are not exclusive to European wildlife they are very rare throughout the world and Europe houses some of the few forests large enough to support them particularly in Eurasia.

European Elk: A large moose that lives in marshland and can live up to 25 years.

The Pine Marten: The pine marten is an exclusively European mammal belonging to the ‘mustelid family’ along with otters, badgers and weasel. It is roughly the size of a house cat and a very cute looking creature if you are lucky enough to spot this particular example of European wildlife.

Wolpertinger: Wolpertinger is a ‘ctypozoological’ example of European wildlife. That means it has yet to be documented scientifically and is based only on myth and rumour. The creature has nevertheless been sighted by many in Bavaria Germany and is said to look somewhat like a horned squirrel with bird feet. While you’ll be lucky to spot an actual wolpertinger (if indeed they exist) you will likely come across many stuffed versions of the creature while in Germany.