ANIMALS

ENVIRONMENTAL HEROES

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BROWN BEARS

In Greece it is estimated that there are around 150, in the Pindus and Rhodope mountain ranges. It prefers plant foods and especially wild fruits, roots, mushrooms and honey. It also eats insects, amphibians and livestock animals. It lives in forests of oak, beech and conifers. It is a solitary animal and moves mainly at dawn, dusk and night.

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Chamois

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• In Greece, the chamois lives in Pindos, Central Greece, Mount Olympus and the Rhodopes. A total of 400-500 individuals of the species live in isolated small populations. It does not belong to the same species as the kri-kri of Crete and does not cross with the goat. It has erect horns with convex endings. Its coat turns from light brown in summer to dark brown in winter.

Otter �

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• It is found in Central Greece, Corfu and Evia. It lives in fresh waters, rivers, lakes and marshes with developed riparian vegetation. It feeds on more than 80% of fish but also amphibians, reptiles (water snakes), invertebrates (mainly crabs), birds and small mammals. She usually gives birth in spring, 2-3 young per year, which in the first year depend on their mother

Dolphins�

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• Four species of dolphins live in the Greek seas: the bottlenose dolphin, the striped dolphin , the common dolphin , and with a smaller presence of the striped dolphin. Natural enemies of dolphins are few. In the Mediterranean, dolphins are at risk from marine pollution, accidental capture in fishing gear, overfishing, which causes a lack of food for them, and deliberate killing.

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Sea Turtle �

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• Caretta caretta feeds mainly on marine plants and invertebrates, mainly jellyfish. It lives in the sea but also has lungs, so it often goes to the surface of the sea to breathe and to sandy beaches to give birth. Among the main threats it faces are the degradation and destruction of its breeding habitats, the use of fishing gear, the existence of garbage and plastic bags.

Red Deer (Cervus elaphus)�

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• At the end of the 20th century, deer were confined to the peninsula of Sithonia, the mountainous region of Rhodope. Today the population of Sithonia has disappeared. The red deer is the largest herbivorous animal in Greece. As an integral element of Greek nature, it can play an essential role in the formation and evolution of ecosystems, especially nowadays when free livestock farming is gradually abandoned.

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Lupus (Canis lupus)�

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• The wolf is characterized by high intelligence and developed social organization. In Greece it is found only in mountainous and semi-mountainous areas. The reduction of its natural prey and the negative image that has been formed of it in the consciousness of people lead to the reduction of populations. Nowadays the "bad wolf" of fairy tales is nothing but a vulnerable species that needs protection.