Wildlife of Lebanon

The country has four main geographical areas: the coastal plain, Mount Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley and the Anti-Lebanon Mountains.

To the east of the Beqaa Valley, the Anti-Lebanon Mountains are orientated in a southwest–northeast direction and the crest of the range forms the border between Lebanon and Syria.

The coast itself is mostly flat with sandy bays and salt-marshes and a few rocky capes, but lack of urban planning means that much of the coastline has seen indiscriminate development, with deposit of materials for land reclamation and highway construction.

[2] The natural vegetation of Lebanon has been threatened by overexploitation and fragmentation as a result of urban expansion, overgrazing, tourism, and warfare.

[4] Nevertheless, Lebanon is more heavily wooded than most other countries in the region, and pine, oak, fir, beech, cypress and juniper are to be found in the mountain areas although the Beqaa valley has little tree cover.

It covers 550 km2 (212 sq mi), which is 5.3% of the country's total area, and includes 620 hectares (1,500 acres) of cedar forest which, with the exclusion of livestock is successfully regenerating.

[9] Few species of large mammals are to be found in Lebanon because of hunting pressure, overgrazing by domestic livestock and the increasing amounts of intensively cultivated land.

However, as recently as 2018 there are confirmed sightings by residents of the Kadisha Valley region, with local hunters claiming they have shot and killed striped hyenas.

In December 2016, there was a single sighting of a bear wandering in the snow near the Syrian border, which was recorded on video by an onlooker with a mobile phone.

Some of the larger mammals native to Lebanon include: wildcats, striped hyenas, jackals, Egyptian mongoose, least weasel, beech marten, European otter, Caucasian badger, honey badger, gray wolf, marbled polecat, jungle cat, caracal, red foxes, porcupines and squirrels.

[11] About 31 species of reptiles and amphibians are found in this region, including tortoises, chameleons, and various snakes, lizards, frogs and toads.

[6] A species of sun spider, which crawls while raising its front limbs, make its home in the arid higher altitudes.

[12] In the nearby Shouf Mountains, there are such species as the endemic Syrian serin, the horned owl, the chukar partridge and the long-legged buzzard.