Fauna of Turkey

The wildlife of Turkey includes a great diversity of plants and animals, each suited to its own particular habitat, as it is a large country with many geographic and climatic regions About 1500 species of vertebrates have been recorded in the country and around 19,000 species of invertebrate.

Turkey has a large range of habitat types and the diversity of its fauna is very great.

The country is on two major routes used by migratory birds which swells the numbers in spring and autumn.

[4] Many species have declined in numbers, for example chamois, gazelle and mouflon, with shortage of staff to protect them claimed to be a factor.

[6] One hundred sixty-one species of freshwater fish are endemic to Turkey.