Fauna of Menalon Trail
Fauna of Menalon Trail
Wild boar (Sus scrofa)
The habitats of Menalon are minimally disturbed and have preserved most of the biodiversity of their geographical area. With the recent reintroduction of wild boar (as a game animal), the Peloponnese has again at least one large mammal, a situation that was altered in the 1940s, with the loss of the wolf, the roe deer and the wild boar.
Except the mammals usually found in rural landscape (fox, marten, weasel, hedgehog, rodents), the attentive hiker will notice several smaller animals (bats, shrews, dormouse) in caves, the undergrowth or among ruins. The jackal sporadically makes appears on the perimeter of livestock zones.
Πετροχελίδονο (Ptyonoprocne rupesrtis)
The area around Menalon Trail hosts most of the bird species of Mt Menalon. In the forest, the rock meadows and dense shrubland you will find all the characteristic birds of this type of habitat without absences or surprises. At the edges between dense forest and meadows you will find woodpeckers of the Peloponnese, along rivers will meet the white-throated dipper, while the slopes of the gorges you will see many jackdaws and kestrels. Finally, common buzzards, short-toed eagles and ravens fly over rocky slopes and large meadows.
Read more on the avifauna of the area in Birds of Menalon Trail.
Horned viper (Vipera ammodytes)
The greatest variety of reptiles, especially amphibians, are found near permanent or temporal, running or standing waters, where several species of frogs and toads, grass snakes and salamanders are easliy identified. In bare sunward parts, lizards abound, along with several endemic species of the Peloponnese, the two Greek turtles and a noticeable variety of snakes, with the most impressive being Montpellier snake and horned viper.
Colias croceus
topoguide Greece
Menalon Trail topoguide
The digital field guide Menalon Trail topoguide is available for Android devices as an in-app purchase within the application topoguide Greece. Menalon Trail is a member of the Long Trails group.
The digital field guide Menalon Trail topoguide is also available for iOS (iPhone and iPad) devices as an in-app purchase within the application Topoguide Greece. There also, Menalon Trail is a member of the Long Trails group.
Menalon Trail topoguide offers active guidance along the trail, as well as an extented guidebook on the geography, the nature and the history of the area.