Fauna of Ireland
Some introduced species have become thoroughly naturalised, e.g. the European rabbit, grey squirrel, bank vole,[4] and brown rat.
[8] Excavations of Barbary macaque remains from the Iron Age (dating to around 390 BC-20 BC) indicate the species was artificially brought to Ireland at some point in the past.
Five marine turtle species appear regularly off the west coast, the leatherback, green, hawksbill, loggerhead, and Kemp's ridley, but they very rarely come ashore.
Legend attributes the absence of snakes in Ireland to Saint Patrick, who is said to have banished them from the island, chasing them into the sea after they assailed him during a 40-day fast he was undertaking on top of a hill.
[10][11] Three amphibians are found in Ireland, the common European brown frog, the smooth newt, and the natterjack toad.
Over the period 1997–2007, populations of pigeons, warblers, tits, finches, and buntings have remained stable or shown an increase (there were massive declines during the 1970s).
Kestrel, swift, skylark, and mistle thrush have continued to decline due to changes in agricultural practices such as increased use of pesticides and fertiliser.
South-eastern Wexford is an important site for birds - the north side of Wexford Harbour, the North Slob, is home to 10,000 Greenland white-fronted geese each winter (roughly one-third of the entire world's population), while in the summer Lady's Island Lake is an important breeding site for terns, especially the roseate tern.
Three-quarters of the world population of pale bellied brent geese winter in Strangford Lough in County Down.
In July 2019, Birdwatch Ireland reported that the Irish bird population was in "dramatic" decline, with 40 percent of the country's waterbirds, or half a million, lost in the prior 20 years.
Sea turtles are also common off the western seaboard, and the walrus has also been found around the Irish coasts, but is very rare with only a handful of sightings.
[29] The cool, temperate waters around Ireland contain a huge variety of marine invertebrates[30] Some of this diversity can be observed in tide pools.
In a study of the marine fauna of the Celtic Sea based on 61 beam trawl catches, the common dragonet and the hermit crab Pagurus prideaux were the most ubiquitous species.
[34] Six checklists of the Irish insect fauna have been published to date-Coleoptera,[35] Lepidoptera,[36] Diptera,[37][38] Hymenoptera,[39] and Hemiptera and small orders.
For atlases See Atlases of the flora and fauna of Britain and Ireland Notable Irish species include the freshwater pearl mussel, diving bell spider, marsh fritillary butterfly, Kerry slug, Semilimax pyrenaicus, freshwater crayfish, the white prominent moth, and Roesel's bush-cricket.
The aquatic insect fauna is listed by Ashe et al.[44] Species that have become extinct in Ireland in historic times include the great auk, the Irish elk, the brown bear, Eurasian lynx, grey whale, and the wildcat.
The last grey wolf in Ireland was killed by John Watson of Ballydarton on the slopes of Mount Leinster, County Carlow in 1786.
In 2000, scientists in Ireland commenced a research programme called "Ag-Biota", concerning the impact of modern agriculture on biodiversity.
An early (1180) account of the fauna is given by Gerald of Wales in Topographia Hibernica and in 1652 Gerard Boate's Natural History of Ireland was published.
