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Sardinia is home to a wide variety of rare or uncommon animals, such as several species of mammals, many of them belonging to an own subspecies: the Mediterranean Monk Seal, the Sarcidano horse, the Giara horse, the Albino Donkey, the Sardinian Wild Cat (Felis lybica sarda), the Mouflon, the Sardinian Long-eared Bat, the Sardinian Deer, the Fallow Deer, the Sardinian fox (Vulpes vulpes ichnusae), the Sardinian Hare (Lepus capensis mediterraneus), the wild boar (Sus scrofa meridionalis), the Edible dormouse and the European pine marten.
Rare amphibias, found only on the island, are the Sardinian brook salamander, the Brown Cave Salamander, the Imperial Cave Salamander, the Monte Albo Cave Salamander, the Supramonte Cave Salamander and the Sarrabus Cave Salamander (Speleomantes sarrabusensis); the Sardinian Tree Frog instead is found also in Corsica and in Tuscan Archipelago. Among the reptiles worthy of note is the Bedriaga's Rock Lizard, the Tyrrhenian Wall Lizard and the Fitzinger's Algyroides, endemic species of Sardinia and Corsica. The island is inhabited by terrestrial tortoises and sea turtles like the Hermann's tortoise, the Spur-thighed tortoise, the Marginated tortoise (Testudo marginata sarda), the Nabeul tortoise, the Loggerhead sea turtle and the Green sea turtle.
Sardinia has four endemic subspecies of birds found nowhere else in the world: its Great Spotted Woodpecker (ssp harterti), Great Tit (ssp ecki), Common Chaffinch (ssp sarda), and Eurasian Jay (ssp ichnusae). It also shares a further 10 endemic subspecies of bird with Corsica. In some cases Sardinia is a delimited part of the species range. For example, the subspecies of Hooded Crow, Corvus cornix ssp cornix occurs in Sardinia and Corsica, but no further south.
Birds of prey found are the Griffon Vulture, the Common Buzzard, the Golden Eagle, the Long-eared Owl, the Western Marsh Harrier, the Peregrine Falcon, the European Honey Buzzard, the Sardinian Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis arrigonii), the Bonelli's Eagle and the Eleonora's Falcon, whose name comes from Eleonor of Arborea, national heroine of Sardinia, expert in falconry. The hundreds of lagoons and coastal lakes that dot the island are home for many species of wading birds, such as the Greater Flamingo.
Conversely, Sardinia lacks many common species such as the viper, the wolf, the bear and the marmot, which are found on the European continent.
The island has also long been used for grazing flocks of indigenous Sardinian sheep. The Sardinian Anglo-Arab is a horse breed that was established in Sardinia, where it has been selectively bred for more than one hundred years.
Three different breeds of dogs are peculiar to Sardinia: the Pastore Fonnese, the Dogo Sardo and the Levriero Sardo.
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The Sardinian Fox (Vulpes Vulpes Ichnusae) is the subspecies of the European red fox native of Sardinia. It's smaller in size, it's got a triangular head, a pointed snout, big ears and eyes.
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Last edited by askra; 05-11-2014 at 01:57 AM.
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Sardinian Deer
Sardinian Deer (Cervus elaphus corsicanus Erxleben, 1777), is a subspecies of the Red Deer (Cervus elaphus), endemic to the Mediterranean islands of Sardinia, Italy and Corsica, France.
Characteristics
The Corsican Deer is smaller than most of the 16 subspecies of Red Deer; has shorter legs (possibly to better scramble up mountain sides) and a longer tail. The antlers are also simplified and shorter, typically less than 80 cm (31 in) in length. Coat is brownish. Life expectancy is 13-14 years. Males reach a height of 86 to 110 cm (34 to 43 in) and a weight of 100 to 110 kg (220 to 240 lb); while females measure 80 to 90 cm (31 to 35 in) and weight 80 kg (180 lb).
Reproduction
The subspecies reach sexual maturity at 2 years of age. Mating lasts from August to November and can involve mortal battles. The dominant male finally secures most of the mature females, typically a dozen per male. After gestation, in May-July, females hide alone in the maquis (the dense vegetation) to deliver, typically a single birth per female. Males leave the matriarchal group following the reproductive period.
Conservation status
The subspecies gets its name from the island of Corsica, from where it was however extirpated in the early 1970s. At that time, the less than 250 animals that still existed on Sardinia were protected and plans were elaborated for a reintroduction on Corsica. Captive breeding on the latter island began in 1985 and the population increased from 13 founders to 186 captive animals. Reintroduction could finally begin in 1998, and as of 2007, the Corsican population was about 250 individuals with a total of about 1,000 for the subspecies which has therefore been downgraded to Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.
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Terrific animals, indeed, but Madagascar has the most original species on the planet. It's like the Garden of Eden.
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White Donkey
The Asinara white donkey, is a rare landrace of feral, and consistently albinistic, donkey indigenous to the island of Asinara, which lies off the north-west coast of Sardinia, Italy, in the province of Sassari. It is one of the seven indigenous donkey "breeds of limited distribution" listed by the AIA, the Italian breeders' association, though it is not a breed in the formal sense. Alternative names include white donkey or albino donkey in English (Italian: asinello bianco or asino albino), and ainu, borricu or molenti in Sardinian. It is given the sub-specific name "var. albina" by some sources, thus Equus asinus var. albina, but this is not recognized by taxonomic authorities.
The habitat of this rare variant of E. a. asinus is restricted to the island of Asinara (declared Asinara National Park in 1997, where the total donkey population is estimated around 90 individuals), to the natural reserve of Porto Conte in Alghero and to Foresta Burgos.
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The Sardinian Wildcat is a species of wildcat that inhabits of the island of Sardinia. Sardinian wildcat is smaller than the European
(Felis silvestris silvestris) and the African (Felis silvestris libyca) wildcat. Cranial index
and morphological aspect are more similar to domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus).
characteristics:
- tufted ears (like lynx);
- long tail (more than half of the body) with rings blacks, missing the median line;
- smaller head than european wildcat;
- absence of white spots on the fur.
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Last edited by askra; 05-11-2014 at 02:09 AM.
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Eleonora's Falcon (Falco eleonorae) is a medium-sized falcon. It belongs to the hobby group, a rather close-knit number of similar falcons often considered a subgenus Hypotriorchis. The Sooty Falcon is sometimes considered its closest relative, but while they certainly belong to the same lineage, they do not seem to be close sister species.
Eleonora's Falcon is named after Eleonor of Arborea, ruler and national heroine of Sardinia.
Eleanor of Arborea
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The Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) is a pinniped belonging to the Phocidae family. At some 450–510 (fewer than 600 remaining individuals, it is believed to be the world's second-rarest pinniped (second only to the Saimaa ringed seal), and one of the most endangered mammals in the world.
Mediterranean monk seal range
It is present in parts of the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern Atlantic Ocean waters around the Tropic of Cancer, as well.
The species status is virtually moribund in the western Mediterranean, which still holds tiny Moroccan and Algerian populations, associated with rare sightings of vagrants in the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, and other western Mediterranean locations, including Gibraltar.
However the increasing of the sightings in Sardinia in the last years, suggest that the seal has repopulated the Central eastern Sardinian coasts, preserved since 1998 by the National Park of Golfo of Orosei.
Mediterranean Monk Seals in the Bue Marino's Grottos (Sea Ox Grotto) in Sardinia in the 70's
Last edited by askra; 05-15-2014 at 12:35 AM.
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The Pastore Fonnese is an old Sardinian breed of livestock guardian dog. In 1912 it was used by the Italian Army during a campaign in Libya. The Pastore Fonnese has not been officially recognized by ENCI, the Italian Kennel club, but is very well known locally. It is an excellent guardian of property and livestock. The dog possesses a rough coat, which can be grey, black, brindle, brown or white. Height at the withers is about 55 to 60 cms for males, while females are a couple of centimeters shorter. One characteristic of the breed is the fiery expression of the eyes.
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Last edited by askra; 05-15-2014 at 12:29 AM.
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A clip about the Fonnese Dog by a National Geographic documentary
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