Thefauna of Romania comprises all theanimalspecies inhabiting the country ofRomania and its coastal territory in theBlack Sea.
According to a systematic list of the Romanian vertebrate fauna, there are 732 species of vertebrates living in Romania. When grouped intoclasses, the largest number of these species arebirds, with 382 species, followed byfish with 184. 110 of these species aremammals, 31 are reptiles, 20 areamphibians, while only four belong to theCyclostomata class ofjawless fish.[1]
The cyclostomata superclass of vertebrates is represented in Romania by four species oflampreys that live in fast, mountains streams. They are found particularly inTransylvania, in rivers such asCriș,Mureș,Someș andVișeu.[1][2][3]
Romania's rivers, lakes and ponds are home to numerous species of freshwater fish, most importantlycarp,Prussian carp,chub,trout,perch,zander,bream,pike,roach and thewels catfish.[1][4]
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Additionally, six species ofsturgeon live in the Black Sea, but travel upriver on the Danube to mate.[5] Five of the six Danube sturgeon species arecritically endangered, with only thesterlet being consideredvulnerable.[6] The most well known of these six species is probably thebeluga sturgeon, which is heavily fished for the female's valuableroe – known asbeluga caviar.[7]
Romania is also home to theasprete, a critically endangered species described by the media as aliving fossil and "Europe's rarest fish".[8] Once common in the waters of theArgeș river and its tributaries,Râul Doamnei andVâlsan, by the 2000s it was only found to be extant in a 1 km stretch of the Vâlsan, with conservationist fearing that less than 10 individuals remained.[9][10] Increased conservation and survey efforts led to a resurgence in the numbers of identified individuals, with a 2022 survey finding 58 asprete across a 15 km stretch of the Vâlsan.[8][11]
The saltwater fish of Romania are the Black Sea species of fish that live in the territorial waters of Romania. A 2005 biodiversity inventory of the Romanian waters identified around 140 species and subspecies of marine fish.[12] Many of the species have seen their stocks plummet in the last 50 years due to commercial exploitation. The six species that are the most commercially viable today are all small-sized fish: thered mullet, thesand smelt, theround goby, theEuropean anchovy, themerling and thesprat.[12]
According to recent reports, dozens of species of fish that were believed to be extinct in the Black Sea have reappeared in the area in the last few years, most likely travelling from theMediterranean, due to the improved water quality and regeneration of the Black Sea ecosystem.[13]
Other species that can be found on the Romanian coast include tworays, twosharks and dozens ofteleostean fish.[1]
The amphibian population of Romania includes more than a dozen species offrogs andtoads, several species ofnewts and thefire salamander, out of which nine species are not found outside of Romania.[1][14]
The most common amphibians are thecommon toad, theyellow-bellied toad, theEuropean green toad, theagile frog and thesmooth newt.[14]
There are ten species of snakes living in Romania, of which three, thecommon European viper, themeadow viper and thehorned viper, arevenomous.[15] The horned viper in particular is considered to be extremely dangerous and possibly the most venomous snake in Europe.[16]
Thejaveline sand boa, the rarest species of snake in Europe and the only species of boa on the continent, was believed extinct in Romania, with the last live specimen being reported in 1937. An entire stable population of the species was discovered by experts in 2014 along the banks of the Danube, with the exact location being kept a secret to avoid trophy hunting.[17][18]
Four species of turtle and tortoise call Romania their home: TheEuropean pond turtle, thecommon tortoise,Hermann's tortoise and the marineloggerhead sea turtle.[1] In recent years, a number of exotic species such as theMississippi map turtle and even theChinese softshell turtle were spotted in ponds and rivers around Bucharest, but their presence has not been extensively documented and their impact on the environment is not yet clearly understood.[19][20]
Over a dozen species of lizard can be found in the country, with the most common one being theEuropean green lizard and the common field lizardLacerta agilis. While not yet present in Romania, thePallas's glass lizard andKotschy's gecko are considered likely to join the list of reptiles in Romania in the near future, both being present inBulgaria, near the Romanian border.[21]
Romania is home to roughly two-dozen species ofraptors (Accipitriformes), theorder which includes thehawks,eagles,kites, andOld World vultures.[1] The adjacent bird-of-prey groups, thefalcons andkestrels (Falconiformes) and theowls (Strigiformes) each have about ten species represented in the country.[22] The lastbearded vulture, or llamergeier, in Romania was shot inSibiu in 1927, with no other credible sightings of the bird until 2009.[23] In 2016, researchers provided the first photographic evidence of bearded vulture activity in Romania after almost 90 years.[24][25]
The water-dwelling birds of Romania are mainly concentrated in thelower Danube, in theDanube Delta, and thelittoral area of theBlack Sea. TheDobruja region, in general, and the Danube Delta, in particular, are hotspots for nestingmigratory birds. These include numerous species ofAnseriformes, such asducks,geese, andswans, as well ascormorants,shags,herons,storks,ibises,pelicans and, seasonally,greater flamingos.[26]
Several species ofseagulls can be found not only on the coast, but hundreds of kilometres inland, as they follow waterways; as in many worldwide cities, they have become something of a pest in cities such asBucharest andBrașov.[27][28] Thegreat white pelican is sometimes mentioned in the media as being thenational bird of Romania, despite the lack of any official decision in this regard.[29][30]
Amongpasserine birds, the most numerous species in Romania is probably thechaffinch, with an estimated 5 million adults, followed by theEuropean robin, thegoldcrest, thegreat tit, thewhite wagtail, thesong thrush, thered-backed shrike, and several species ofsparrow.[31]
Thegreat bustard, theworld's largest extant flying animal,[32][33] was once common in Central and Southeast Romania until the early 20th century, when agrarian reform severely restricted its habitat.[34] They were considered extinct in Romania, with no sightings between 1981 and 2002, but can now be found in two small, isolated groups inBihor andTimiș counties, near the border withHungary.[35] The first proactive conservation measures affecting the great bustard populations in Western Romania began in 2018.[36]
Rodents make up a large proportion of the mammals in Romania, especially in the low-lying plains. This includes species ofhamsters,field mice,ground squirrels,voles,dormice,red squirrels,nutrias andbeavers. Other common small mammals includeshrews,rabbits,hedgehogs,polecats,martens andbadgers.[1]
Thebat population in Romania is particularly plentiful with 32 species present in the country.[37] TheHuda lui Papară [ro] cave in theTrascău Mountains is home to the largest known bat colony in Europe,[38][39] while theTopolnița Cave inMehedinți hosts the largest colony ofgreater horseshoe bat on the continent.[40] Several other caves display extraordinary biodiversity, with up to 20 species of bats living in the same cave system.[37] Romania is also home to thegreater noctule bat (Nyctalus lasiopterus),[41] a rare species that is Europe's largest and least studied bat, as well as probably its most threatened.[42] It is acarnivorous bat that feeds on insects, but was also found to consume "large numbers of migratory passerines", making it the sole bat species known to regularlyprey on birds.[43][44]
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Large species of non-carnivorous mammals in Romania include theCarpathian boar,fallow deer,red deer,roe deer and thechamois. The endangeredsaiga antelope was once common inMoldavia and EasternWallachia, but has gone all but extinct in the 18th century. Today only a few specimens survive in a small natural reserve in the north-eastern county ofBotoșani.[45][46] The chamois is a protected species in Romania and is the subject of several conservation efforts.[47][48]
TheEuropean bison, the largest European land mammal, became extinct in the region in the 18th century,[49] However, in 1958, Romania began the reintroduction of the bison into its nature reserves. In the 21st century, Romania also began reintroducing the European bison in the wild, the ninth country to do so as part of acontinent-wide effort that saw the total number of bison in Europe go from 54 captive individuals in 1927 to more than 7000 in 2018.[50][51][52] In 2022, there were over 200 bison living in wild or semi-wild areas in regions of Romania.[53]
Romania is also home to theDanube Delta horses, a population offeral horses that has lived for hundreds of years in and aroundLetea Forest in the Danube Delta and is possibly the last sizable population of wild horses in Europe.[54][55] Aftercollective farms were closed in the 1990s, the population was supplanted by freed horses and by the beginning of the 21st century, it increased to around 4,000 individuals, turning them into a threat to the protected flora of the region.[56][57] Following media and public outrage in 2011, authorities walked back on the initial plan of killing the horses and the population is now controlled through birth-control vaccines.[58]
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The large carnivores living in Romania are theEuropean wildcat, theEurasian lynx, thered fox, thegolden jackal, thegrey wolf and thebrown bear.[1]
There are over 6,000 brown bears living in Romania, in one of the largest concentrations in Europe.[59] Because of the increasing number of interactions with settled areas, including a number of attacks, but also because the "optimum size of the population of brown bear, from an ecological, social and economic point of view" is around 4,000, the Romanian government announced plans in 2018 for a culling of about 2000 of the country's brown bears. This measured was met with hostility by many conservationist organisations and the public.[60]
One species ofporpoise (Phocoena phocoena) and several species ofdolphins live in the Black Sea off the coast of Romania.[1][61] While the endangeredMediterranean monk seal still appears in the Black Sea, it has not been recorded in Romanian waters for several decades.[61]
Several non-native species of mammals were introduced to Romania during the 20th century. Among these the most notable are the East-Asianraccoon dog, which spread to Europe through the USSR and was first seen in Romania in 1951,[62] theEuropean mouflon, which was introduces starting with 1966 ingame reserves and later in the wilderness,[63] and the North-Americanmuskrat, which was introduced to Romania accidentally, after individuals which escaped captivity in Czech and Russian farms spread across the continent around the middle of the century.[64]
Due to the low level of conservation research done in Romania and the rapid pace of environmental changes that the country has gone through in the last decades, there is no definitive list ofendangered species in Romania. According to a 2013 paper on biodiversity,
The incomplete and biased species inventory in Romania may have several causes: difficult access due to low road density, complex landscape (with 15% of the territory above 800 m), limited funds available for large-scale inventory and monitoring projects, and lack of institutional support. For instance, no species distribution databases are publicly available at the Romanian Ministry of the Environment[14]
Some species, such as thechamois, theEurasian lynx, theEuropean bison, thewood grouse and theDanube salmon have been the subject of high-profile conservation efforts and are protected by national laws.[65]
A 2017 study identified 390alien species ofterrestrial animals (of which 90% are invertebrates) and 102 species ofaquatic organisms (44 freshwater and 58 marine) in Romania. Most of these originate in North America and Southeast Asia and have been introduced accidentally. Despite being a signatory of theBerne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, Romania is behind many other countries when it comes to protecting its ecosystems frominvasive alien species. There is currently no official list of alien species or invasive species provided by theRomanian Ministry of Environment.[66]
Some of the invasive alien species, such as theveined rapa whelk, thesea walnut or thesoft-shell clam have been well documented,[67][68] but the impact of most invasive species on the Romanian ecosystems has not been properly researched, with serious academic research into the topic only beginning within the last decade.[66][69]