This site is work in progress. It is intended to become a significant update for our previous wildlife page,  introducing a more structured layout and new pages, some of which will be written by experts in their respective fields.

Please note that this website is not  yet complete. A number of pages are still blank. If you have specific questions on a particular subject, please do not hesitate to ask them, using the [Contact us] button, above. Also, if you wish to contribute part or whole pages or make corrections, please let us know.

Introduction

Cyprus is rich in most kinds of wildlife, except trees and mammals. It is an environmental necessity that the delicate balance should not be unduly disturbed, as it was by the malaria eradication scheme in the late 1940s/early 1950s. By this, I am not saying that the eradication was bad, as such, but the method was too drastic. The use of massive amounts of DDT, even in malaria-free regions (remembering mosquitoes cannot fly more than about 100 to 150 metres from their breeding area), resulted in the extinction of many insect species which upset the balance of the food chains that depended on them, including birds and mammals. In addition, the balance was also upset when wetlands were drained.

We have a similar problem today, because of the processionary caterpillars (Thaumetopoeidae) that nest in pine trees. If unchecked, these pests will strip the needles from the pine trees, each year, stunting the growth and eventually causing the death of the tree. Large areas of forest are sprayed from aircraft to keep them under control. The timing of this spraying, usually between late October and early January, is crucial and depends on the weather. The important point is that it must be done in conditions of good visibility (for the safety of the aircraft), low wind (to prevent the insecticide from being blown away from the target), low temperature (to minimise the effect on other insect species) and no rain forecast in the immediate future (to give a chance of the the beasties contacting the insecticide, before it is washed away). The insecticide used is biological, as opposed to chemical pesticides, and develops lesions in the gut of the caterpillar and eventually kills it. At the moment, it is believed that it may be partly species-specific, but the lethal effect of the commonly used biological control, Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki, is unlikely to be restricted to Processionary Moth caterpillars. In Cyprus, this species is far from unique in having its larvae feed during the winter, and the use of such biological control may be fatal to other species of insect, especially other moths and butterflies, that have larvae actively feeding at the time of spraying.

Processionary Pine Moth larvae (photo: John H. Ghent, USDA Forest Service, United States, with permission under  a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License)

Ecosystems are constantly changing. Over the last 12 years, this author has observed very significant changes in bird and plant species on government forest land, which has not been touched. It is believed that this may be partially due to the increased use of pesticides, reducing the number of insects. The number of species of insectivorous birds has dropped, as well as their numbers, including the Cyprus Wheatear, the Masked Shrike and the Swallow. On the other hand, the number of House Sparrows and feral pigeons has increased enormously. Bats used to be common but none have been seen for over a year. Plant life has also changed with the proliferation of gorse and the elimination of some species of orchid and anemone.

Another factor that has caused a major shift in wildlife is the construction of dams. In many cases, especially in dry winters, there is no water in the river beds, as a result. This has caused drastic changes in biotopes downstream from the dams. On the other hand, the retention lakes have attracted some species which would not normally be there. They are also sometimes artificially stocked with fish that are not native to the country, such as trout. This can also upset the local ecology.

Beetles*

Weevils

Birds***

Cyprus is very rich in bird life, with over 380 species identified. This is because we are on both the spring and autumn routes of birds migrating between Africa and both Europe and western Asia, including some that spend either the summer or the winter here. There are 2 endemic species, the Cyprus Warbler and the Cyprus Wheatear, while the Cyprus Scop's Owl and a few sub-species are endemic sub-species. Many of the common small birds are insectivorous (e.g., the Swallow, the various wheatears and shrikes, the Redstart and many others), so they can also contribute to reducing the use of polluting insecticides.

The Common Buzzard, Buteo buteo, a relatively rare (mostly spring migrants) bird in Cyprus and endangered.

Butterflies***

This is a new page, written by Eddie John F.R.E.S., organizer of the Cyprus Butterfly Recording Scheme. Consult his website at http://www.cyprusbutterflies.co.uk/

Flies**

Mosquitoes, no-see'ums, blowflies, housefly

Fungi*

Mushrooms and moulds. How many species are there?

Geology

New proposed page to be written by A. The biotopes, including all the flora and fauna, depend on the substrates; the geology therefore plays an important role.

Mammals***

There are relatively few species of mammals in Cyprus, mainly because of the efforts of the two-legged species to render the four-legged ones extinct. The largest one is the Cyprus Mouflon, an endemic wild sheep, found in the Paphos forests. It is highly protected but nonetheless poached. Other species include various types of rodent, hedgehogs, hares, foxes and bats. The bats are mostly insectivorous, taking over from the swallows at dusk.

This is a photograph of a Cyprus Mouflon ram and ewe I managed to take in 2001. It differs from similar animals found in North Africa and other Mediterranean islands by the distinctive black markings down the front of its neck and upper forelegs, clearly visible here.

Marine life

There is a certain diversity of marine life, although the Eastern Mediterranean has never had the abundance of some other seas.

Moths

This is a new page which will be written by Bjarne Skule. Consult his website at

Other insects**

This is a new page, author to be named (volunteers welcome!)

Cockroaches, Mantises, Stick Insects, grasshoppers, locusts, crickets

Other invertebrates*

The balance of invertebrates in Cyprus has been totally changed in the past 60 years, due to the anti-malarial use of DDT, mentioned above, and the constant over-use of agricultural, horticultural and household pesticides...

Plants*

The number of species and sub-species of wild plant in Cyprus is possibly in the thousands, many of them being endemic. They include varieties from all three of the surrounding continents, plus some naturalised escaped species from elsewhere, such as the ubiquitous opuntiae (prickly pears). The number of species has certainly diminished because of man's increasing destruction of biotopes and the use of herbicides. The Orchidaceae and Cistaceae families are now complete***

Reptiles and amphibians***

Completely new page written by two renowned herpetologists with photographs of most species

Scorpions***

There is probably only one species of scorpion in Cyprus, the endemic Mesobothus cyprius.

Social insects (bees, wasps and ants)*

This is a new page, author to be named (volunteers welcome!)

Spiders*

This is a new page, author to be named (volunteers welcome!). Large generic section on spiders

Trees***

New Species***

The purpose of this page is to announce the discovery of species and subspecies new to Cyprus or endemic to Cyprus. New weevil

Taxonomy and endemism***

This section has been added to define and explain the subjects.

Hunting

The amount of illegal shooting, even by licensed hunters as well as poachers, is too high. Many hunters exceed their game quota. Then there is the eyesore of thousands of spent cartridges that litter the ground, despite regulations that call for them to be picked up and disposed of correctly. Tens of thousands of hunters trampling the ground twice per week for three months are not without damage to plant and animal life. Lack of respect of the regulations concerning the proximity of habitations endangers the inhabitants (I have personally heard pellets reach my garden on several occasions and even once found some in a grapefruit). Also, the noise pollution is unacceptable when guns are fired at less than the mandatory 300 metres from a house.

One of the worst cases of senseless poaching took place in the spring of 2003. Griffon and Egyptian Vultures used to be common up to the 1950s but were all but exterminated by the indiscriminate use of DDT, resulting in very poor eggshell quality, by mandatory carcass removal and by indiscriminate shooting. Today, there are two very small Griffon Vulture, Gyps fulvus, colonies, one of about 25 birds and the other about 15. The Egyptian Vulture, Neophron percnopterus, is extinct as a breeding bird, although it is occasionally seen as a migrant bird of passage. The larger Griffon colony, near Episkopi, has survived precariously. A nesting female was criminally shot for no other reason than to satisfy the bloodlust of some deranged person. These birds are no use for the pot, they cause no harm and are the carrion-eater par excellence. It is too early to tell whether the colony can survive this setback. This is not the only case of protected species being killed; flamingos, red-footed falcons and other inedible rare species are also killed from time to time.

However, the worst aspects of hunting derive from the sheer numbers of cartridges fired. It is estimated that there are roughly 1,000,000 hunter-days per year (including poachers, but not including clay-pigeon shooting). If each hunter fires an average of 6 cartridges per day, each cartridge containing 25 grams of shot, this produces a total of 150 tonnes of lead which is scattered throughout the island, in the form of small pellets, each year. Depending where these pellets fall, they represent a danger to wildlife. This is dramatically illustrated by the number of Greater Flamingos that have died at Larnaca Salt Lake after ingesting lead shot, over the past few years. Other aquatic species are also at risk, but so are seed-eaters, predators eating injured animals and carrion-eaters. The gases produced from the explosives are rich in NO_x, which are responsible, along with VOCs, for photochemical ozone production (see the essay on Cars for a further discussion on this type of pollution).

Conclusion

The wildlife in Cyprus is in a precarious position, as the concrete jungles expand. The utmost care is needed to protect the unique nature of the island. Measures are urgently needed to educate the population, to restrict the use of agricultural chemicals to a strict minimum, the ambelopoulia-trapping ban must be strictly enforced, hunting licences should be restricted to proven competent persons only and poaching fiercely suppressed. Above all, as has been done in many countries, lead shot should be withdrawn from sale and replaced by steel shot, which simply rusts in nature (lead pellets can remain intact for many years).

Forums devoted to Nature in Cyprus can be found at this site and also at this one.

* This page contains at least a photograph or other anecdotal info, awaiting definitive version
** This page is partially complete, possibly in anecdotal style
*** This page is in its definitive form.

Headings in red signify recent updates to the page