Animals of Europe

Mixed forests of Central Europe

The broad belt of mixed deciduous forest stretching from the Iberian Peninsula through Central Europe to the Carpathians forms the heart of European biodiversity. Red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer, wild boar and — returning — the wolf and the brown bear all live here.

The brown bear (Ursus arctos) has its strongest populations in the Carpathians (Romania, Slovakia), the Dinaric Alps and the Baltic states. Scandinavia holds the largest numbers in Western Europe. In Central Europe the species was nearly extinct; in countries such as Germany and Austria the first tentative reappearances are being reported. Compare the bear's recovery with the situation of threatened animals in Asia to see how differently pressure on large carnivores plays out worldwide.

The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) disappeared from most of Central Europe through over-hunting. Reintroduction programmes in Switzerland (from 1971), Germany and Czechia have produced small but stable populations. The IUCN classifies the species as Least Concern globally, though sub-populations in Western Europe remain vulnerable.

The return of the wolf

Few animals symbolise the European rewilding debate as powerfully as the wolf (Canis lupus). Having vanished from almost all of Western and Central Europe during the twentieth century, wolves are now present in Germany, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and France. Recolonisation is largely self-driven — spreading outward from core populations in Poland and Italy.

The wolf holds Least Concern status on the IUCN Red List globally. In Europe, numbers have risen sharply: estimates for 2022–2024 put the figure at more than 20,000 individuals on the continent. This recovery is an ecological success, but also creates tension with livestock farming. The debate over management and protection is currently one of the most contentious in European conservation policy.

On the Europe climate page you can read how climate change is affecting habitats for animals such as the bear and the wolf: warmer winters shorten the bear's hibernation period and alter the wolf's prey base.

Taiga: the northern boreal forest

North of the mixed deciduous forests, the taiga stretches across all of Scandinavia and northern Russia. This is the largest continuous forest on Earth. Moose (Alces alces), reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), wolverines (Gulo gulo) and brown bears all live here at high densities.

The Scandinavian brown bear population is the healthiest in Western Europe: Sweden counts around 2,800–3,000 animals, Finland around 2,500. In northern Norway and Russia numbers are comparable. The taiga also provides habitat for the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), one of Europe's most impressive raptors.

The Alps and other mountain zones

In the higher mountain areas — the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Carpathians and the Caucasus — species adapted to rugged terrain and extreme cold thrive. The chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) and the Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) are master climbers. The ibex was reduced to a handful of animals in the Italian Gran Paradiso national park in the nineteenth century; reintroduction has since spread the species across the entire Alps.

In the Pyrenees lives the last brown bear population of Western Europe. Following near-extinction in the 1990s, Slovenian bears were reintroduced; the population numbered around 80 animals in 2024. In the Caucasus, on the border of Europe and Asia, the Caucasian wisent and the Bezoar ibex also occur. The golden eagle breeds across the entire mountain chain from Portugal to the Caucasus.

The European bison: back from the brink

The wisent or European bison (Bison bonasus) is the heaviest land animal in Europe and one of the most remarkable conservation comebacks in the world. The species became extinct in the wild in 1927 — the last wild individual was killed in the Białowieża Forest on the border of Poland and Belarus. Only 54 animals survived in captivity.

Thanks to an intensive international breeding programme and reintroduction, the species now numbers more than 7,500 individuals in wild and semi-wild populations, mainly in Poland, Belarus, Ukraine and Romania. The IUCN upgraded its classification in 2020 from Vulnerable to Near Threatened — a rare upward step on the Red List. The Białowieża Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, forms the heart of the range.

The Mediterranean and coastlines

The Mediterranean Sea hosts remarkable marine ecosystems. The Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) is one of the world's most threatened marine mammals — the IUCN classifies it as Endangered. Fewer than 800 individuals are estimated to survive, spread across small populations in Greece, Turkey, Madeira and North Africa.

The shallow Mediterranean waters are also home to the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), the striped dolphin and the occasional fin whale. Sea turtles — in particular the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) — nest on beaches in Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. The kids' page on animals by continent gives an accessible introduction to the most distinctive European species.