What Animals Live in the Mediterranean Region?
Animal species living in the Mediterranean region include red deer, badgers, common toads, adders and greater flamingos. The Mediterranean Sea itself is home to wildlife including killer whales, humpback whales, seals, dolphins and white sharks.
The lands that border the Mediterranean Sea offer a wide variety of habitats that support many animal species. Some of these habitats include estuaries, temperate grasslands, heath lands and broad leaf forests with many rivers, lakes and streams interspersed throughout. More than five species of bats make the region their home, as do other mammals such as wolves, boars, otters, weasels and fallow deer. Hundreds of species of birds live around the Mediterranean Sea. These include coots, oystercatchers, herons, owls and ospreys. Bumblebees, scorpions, brown trout and loggerhead sea turtles are also common species found in the Mediterranean region.
The Mediterranean Sea connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean region, with southern Europe lying just to the north and northern Africa directly to the south. The Strait of Gibraltar connects the sea to the Atlantic Ocean and separates Spain from Morocco. The Mediterranean Sea covers an area close to 1 million square miles. The water in the Mediterranean Sea is saltier and therefore less nutritious than normal ocean water, making it difficult for some species to survive near it. The region also experiences hot and dry summers followed by wet and cold winters.
