Flora & Fauna
Lithuania lies in the area of temperate forest zone, which has its characteristic flora and fauna. Most of forest is coniferous, spruce and birch, with alder, ash, aspen and oak found in smaller numbers - forest land makes up almost one third of the country’s area.
At some point on your visit to Lithuania you are bound to hear about beavers - they are the most numerous animals in our country. The extraordinarily prolific beavers are busy building their dams and lodges on our streams, lakes and rivers.
And now about the storks! Lithuania has the highest density of white stork population in Europe with 13 000 pairs. That is why Lithuania is known as a land of storks and the stork is our country’s national bird.
When these birds raise their chicks in Lithuania, they move southwards across the whole continent. All Europe should be grateful - if it were not for so many storks breeding in our country, who would bring babies to new European parents?
If you are interested in endangered and rare animals, Lithuania still has rare cattle species - wild European bisons - left in the wild. In 2010, there were 60 bisons living in the wild, and each year their herds are growing in number to once again roam our forests.
Facts and numbers:
- The total number of plant species recorded in Lithuania is near 2,000, of which 16 species are already extinct;
- The total number of vertebrate animals found in Lithuania is over 500. Among them 70 are mammals, 369 – birds, 100 – fish;
- The total number of Lithuania’s invertebrate species is estimated at over 200,000. Among them 150,000 are insects, about 1,200 – arachnids and about 170 – molluscs;
- The total number of animal and plant species included into the Red Data Book of Lithuania (Lietuvos Raudonąją knygą) is 768.
