Wildlife of Armenia
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/Armenischegebirgseidechse-02.jpg/220px-Armenischegebirgseidechse-02.jpg)
The wildlife of Armenia includes the wild boar, crested porcupine, various lizards, snakes and numerous species of birds and plants. Endangered species in Armenia are the bear, wild goat, Armenian mouflon and the leopard.
Fauna
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/Mouflon%2C_Ovis_musimon_Pengo.jpg/220px-Mouflon%2C_Ovis_musimon_Pengo.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Armenian_Gull_standing%2C_closeup_at_Sevan_Lake.jpg/220px-Armenian_Gull_standing%2C_closeup_at_Sevan_Lake.jpg)
Fauna in Armenia is diverse given the country's relatively small size, owing to the varied habitats created by the area's mountainous terrain. Armenia is an important area for migratory animals, about 350 different bird species were recorded in the country. Many of the world's domesticated animals originated in or near Armenia, and the mouflon, the ancestor of domesticated sheep, is present there. Research suggests that about a quarter of the animal species in Armenia are internationally endangered. The mouflon is suffering a great population decline due to poaching and habitat loss, and the Sevan trout, which once made up thirty percent of the fish in Lake Sevan, have virtually disappeared.
Southern and south-western Armenia remains the last stronghold of the Persian leopard in the Caucasus, in part due to the region being connected with the leopard population in Iran. The total population in Armenia is thought to number 10 to 20 individuals, including adults, sub-adults and cubs.[1]
Common
[edit]- Armenian gull
- Armenian rock lizard
- Armenian mouflon
- African wildcat
- Brown bear
- Beech marten
- Caucasian bear
- Caucasian squirrel
- Caucasian badger
- Common spoonbill
- Eurasian brown bear
- Eastern imperial eagle
- Eumeces schneiderii
- Eurasian lynx
- Eurasian otter
- European jackal
- European otter
- European wildcat
- Jungle cat
- Greek tortoise
- Golden jackal
- Golden eagle
- Karabakh horse
- Least weasel
- Long-eared hedgehog
- Marbled polecat
- Natterer's bat
- Persian leopard
- Sevan khramulya
- Sevan trout
- Squacco heron
- Steppe wolf
- Steppe eagle
- Striped hyena
- Syrian brown bear
- Montivipera raddei
- Wild goat
- Wild boar
- Vipera darevskii
- Raccoon
- Red deer
- Red fox
- Roe deer
Flora
[edit]- Acer campestre
- Apricot
- Armenian cucumber
- Downy birch
- Black poplar
- Elaeagnus angustifolia
- Eurasian smoketree
- European pear
- Common fig
- Hackberry
- Sycamore maple
- White mulberry
- Norway maple
- Armenian oak
- Pomegranate
- Populus alba
- Pyrus salicifolia
- Quince
- Sea-buckthorn
- Tatar maple
- Prunus avium
- White willow
- Chaerophyllum macrospermum
See also
[edit]- Climate of Armenia
- Fauna of Armenia
- List of birds of Armenia
- List of mammals of Armenia
- List of protected areas of Armenia
References
[edit]- ^ Khorozyan, I. (2003). "The Persian leopard in Armenia: research and conservation". Proceedings of Regional Scientific Conference Wildlife Research and Conservation in South Caucasus, 7–8 October 2003, Yerevan, Armenia: 161–163.
Additional sources
- "Krasnaya kniga Armyanskoi SSR, zhivotnye". 1987. Yerevan, Hayastan.
- Kurkjian, R. (1999). Out of Stone. Armenia. Artsakh. Stone Garden Productions, Washington, DC.