Wild life in Corsica

Do you want to immerse yourself in the depths of Corsican flora and fauna? How about discovering the different components that make the Corsican Natural and Regional Park a unique place with an important natural and cultural heritage?

Rich and diversified natural and cultural heritage

The Corsican Natural and Regional Park runs from the North-West down to the South-East of Corsica, along the central watershed.
Within its bounds are the highest mountain masses, including many peaks topping 2,000 metres, among them the Rotondu to the north. Monte Cintu stands at 2,710 metres and Monte Alcudina to the South at 2,134 m.

To the West, a rightly celebrated coastline faces the sea. Here the protected reserve of Scandola is enrolled in the Unesco World Heritage.

Over and above the astonishing beauty and diversity of the countryside, and of its villages whether nestling under steep crags or enfolded by gentle hills, the Corsican Natural and Regional Park is a veritable paradise for protected, native wildlife and plants.

Corsican wildlife

Mouflon sheep live on the Bavella mountains and in the region around Ascu. This species requires careful oversight by the Corsican Natural and Regional Park staff.
These beasts are shy and difficult to approach, particularly in the summer, when they quit the hot lowland hills for higher and less accessible terrain.

Corsican red deer (cervus elaphus corsicanus) became extinct on the island in the 1960s, but were reintroduced by the Corsican Natural and Regional Park in 1985.
They breed from a small colony imported from Sardinia, in the region of Quenza. The species has done well and Corsican red deer now number around 80 in the breeding enclosures.
More than a hundred have been released into the mountain environment of the Corsican Natural and Regional Park.

Many birds of prey (eagles, common buzzards and lammergeyers) live high in the mountains close to the pastures where the flocks are driven in summer.
The lammergeyer or bearded vulture is especially treasured, as no more than ten breeding pairs remain. The osprey or fish hawk nests mainly in the Scandola nature reserve.