Terrestrial fauna in Cabo de Gata
The terrestrial fauna of Cabo de Gata-Nijar Natural Park is made up of animals totally adapted to arid lands, with a great shortage of water and vegetation.
In Cabo de Gata we can find mammals of small size, such as rabbits, hares, shrews, North African hedgehogs, voles, genets and badgers. From time to time you can see some foxes, or small herds of wild boar, that leave the areas of the province interior and approach the coast in search of food.
Given the arid nature of the terrain, reptiles and amphibians are much more abundant, in particular, the snout viper and the ocellated lizard. Other reptiles that share the Natural Park are, among others, Montpellier snakes, ladder snakes, the Mediterranean turtle and the natterjack toad.
Likewise, the presence of insects is abundant throughout the Natural Park, with the European mantis being of special interest.
In the area of the Cabo de Gata Saltworks there are two ornithological observation posts. In these wetlands more than 100 species of birds have been counted, since it is a resting area for many birds in their migratory process.
One of the ornithological riches of the Cabo de Gata Saltworks is the large number of greater flamingos that can be observed.
In the summer, coinciding with its migration, the colony of greater flamingos can be made up of thousands of individual birds.
Regarding the marine fauna, you can visit our section dedicated to the seabed.
