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The Park's Inhabitants

Thanks to the presence of habitats and animal species which are included in the European Union protection lists, Val Grande can be considered as a very important place of study.
Since the human presence in this territory is very limited at the moment, the Park represents an ideal natural laboratory to study how vegetal and animal communities have evolved as a consequence of the abandonment they have experienced after centuries of human exploitation. Some European funds falling within a Life Project have allowed researchers and experts to start research programs on the territory. These research activities, which also contributed to the elaboration of the Park's plan, have led to the identification of some interesting species at a European level.
Among the birds, the Golden Eagle, the Peregrine, the Black Grouse, the Hazel Grouse, and the Eagle Owl. Different species of woodpeckers (like the Black Woodpecker) and Passeriformes are also worth a mention (Bonelli's Warbler and Red-backed Shrike).
In the Park, herbivores like the chamois and the roe deer live in well-structured groups. The situation is positively evolving for the deer too, which is likely to become an important presence in the next few years.
Foxes, martens, stone martens, badgers and weasels are among the most representative carnivores of the Park. The woods are inhabited by many small mammals, such as the dormouse and the wood mouse, which often get closer to the bivouacs, looking for the hikers' leftovers.

Thanks to the richness and quality of the impetuous waters running in the Park, the aquatic fauna living in and depending on the Park streams is remarkable too. The most representative species are the brown trout and the bullhead, followed by a number of macroinvertebrates (ephemeral and Trichoptera larvae) they feed on. It is quite common for visitors to see two bird species that live on the large rocks and pebbled banks: the Dipper and the Grey Wagtail.
Val Grande is also known for its vipers, animals feared by many people and which sometimes become the protagonists of legendary tales. These reptiles prefer quite isolated places, where they can easily hide in bushes and stone heaps; this is the reason why they find their natural habitat in the wildest areas of the Park.
Some important species can be found among insects too, especially among Coleoptera: the Carabus lepontinus exclusively lives on Mt. Zeda (it is an endemic species), whereas Rosalia alpina, Osmoderna eremita and Gnorimus variabilis are among the European strictly protected species.
If you think about the Park territory as a continuously developing environment leading to a situation which is day by day more similar to the original one, then it is important to mention some extinct species like wolf, bear, lynx and otter, wild cat and polecat, whose return in the future is not unlikely.