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Animals of Europe

Europe's list is mostly animals you might actually meet: badgers, hedgehogs, foxes, stoats and robins, plus the bigger survivors of its forests and mountains, like wolves, lynx, brown bears, ibex and chamois.

A few, such as the raccoon and the muntjac, were brought in from elsewhere and now live wild. Farm and pet animals found all over the world are on the Worldwide list instead.

77 animals, A to Z.

• 🐾AntelopeMost of Africa, the Middle East, India, Central Asia and a small area of Russia.
• 🦡BadgerStocky, short-legged omnivores of the weasel and skunk families.
• 🐟BassNative to the eastern and central US, south-eastern Canada and northern Mexico. Introduced widely, including Japan, Namibia, Cuba, Guatemala and the Iberian Peninsula.
• 🦫BeaverNorth American beaver: most of the US and Canada, into northern Mexico. Eurasian beaver: much of Europe and western Russia, with small native groups in Mongolia and China.
• 🦬BisonNorth America (American bison) and Europe (European bison).
• 🐾BlackbirdEurope, western Asia and North Africa; introduced to Australia and New Zealand.
• 🐻Brown bearNorthern North America, Europe and Asia. It lives in a wider range of habitats than any other bear, with small, fragmented populations left in western Europe.
• 🐸BullfrogNative to eastern North America; introduced to the western US, Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, Europe and Asia.
• 🐝BumblebeeMostly the Northern Hemisphere, north to Greenland; also South America and North Africa; introduced to New Zealand and Tasmania.
• 🦅BuzzardMost of Europe and east to western Siberia, Mongolia and China; northern and eastern birds winter as far south as South Africa.
• 🐾ChamoisMountains of Europe from the Pyrenees and Alps to the Carpathians and Balkans, plus Turkey and the Caucasus; introduced to New Zealand.
• 🐾CraneEvery continent except Antarctica and South America.
• 🐾CuckooBreeds across Europe and Asia; winters in Africa and South Asia.
• 🐾DormouseAfrica, Asia and Europe.
• 🦡FerretDomestic worldwide; feral polecat–ferret hybrids live wild in New Zealand, where they harm native wildlife.
• 🦩FlamingoThe Americas and the Caribbean (four species), and Africa, Europe and Asia (two species).
• 🐿️Flying squirrelNorth America and Asia; the Siberian flying squirrel reaches northeast Europe (Russia, Finland and Estonia).
• 🐾GenetAfrica; the common genet also lives along the coasts of Arabia, Yemen and Oman, and in Spain, France and Italy.
• 🐍Grass snakeMainland Europe from mid Scandinavia to southern Italy, the Middle East and northwestern Africa.
• 🐾GrouseTemperate and subarctic North America, Europe and Asia, as far north as 83°N.
• 🐹HamsterWild golden hamsters live only in a dry region of northern Syria and southern Turkey, where their numbers are falling.
• 🐇HareNative to Africa, Europe, Asia and North America, from Arctic tundra to desert edges.
• 🦔HedgehogEurope, Asia and Africa; none native to the Americas or Australia. The European hedgehog was introduced to New Zealand, where it is now a pest.
• 🐝HornetMainly Asia; the European hornet ranges across Europe to Siberia and was introduced to eastern North America. The Asian hornet is spreading in Europe.
• 🐾IbexMountains of Europe, Asia, North Africa and East Africa.
• 🐺JackalCentral and southern Africa (black-backed and side-striped jackals); south-central Europe and Asia (golden jackal).
• 🐾JackdawEurope, western Asia and western North Africa.
• 🦅KestrelEurope, Asia and Africa; occasionally reaches the east coast of North America.
• 🐾LemmingIn or near the Arctic across North America, Europe and Asia, including Norway and Siberia.
• 🐆LynxEurope, Asia and North America; the Iberian lynx only on the Iberian Peninsula.
• 🐒MacaqueAsia from Japan to the Indian subcontinent; the Barbary macaque lives in North Africa and Gibraltar.
• 🐾MagpieThe northern part of Europe and Asia.
• 🐾MarmotMountains such as the Alps, Carpathians and Sierra Nevada, and rough grassland across North America and the Eurasian steppe.
• 🐾MinkNative to North America; introduced to many parts of Europe, Asia and South America.
• 🦡MoleMost of North America, Europe (except Ireland) and Asia.
• 🐾MongooseAfrica, Asia and southern Europe; introduced to Hawaii.
• 🫎MooseNorthern forests of North America, northern Europe and northern Asia, from Scandinavia and the Baltic states to Russia and Mongolia.
• 🦌MuntjacSouth and Southeast Asia, southern China and Taiwan; Reeves's muntjac introduced to Britain, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Japan.
• 🐾MuskoxGreenland, Arctic Canada and Alaska; reintroduced to Siberia, and introduced to Norway, from where some spread to Sweden.
• 🐾MuskratMost of Canada and the US and a small part of northern Mexico; introduced to Europe, northern Asia and parts of South America.
• 🦎NewtNorth America, Europe, North Africa and Asia.
• 🐾NightingaleBreeds in Europe, North Africa and western and central Asia; winters in sub-Saharan Africa.
• 🐾NuthatchWoods of North America, Europe and Asia, with a few in North Africa (Algeria and Morocco).
• 🐾OlmUnderground waters of Slovenia, southwestern Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and northeastern Italy.
• 🐾PartridgeNative to Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East; introduced to North America and elsewhere for hunting.
• 🐾PheasantNative to Asia and the Caucasus foothills; introduced widely in Europe and elsewhere.
• 🐾Pine martenMost of Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and parts of Iran, Iraq and Syria.
• 🐾PolecatEurope and the Rif mountains of Morocco.
• 🦔PorcupineOld World porcupines: Italy, West and South Asia and most of Africa. New World porcupines: North America and northern South America.
• 🐾PuffinNorth Atlantic coasts: Iceland, Norway, Britain, Ireland, the Faroes, Greenland and Canada, south to Maine and Brittany.
• 🦝RaccoonNorth America, and since the mid-20th century also central Europe, the Caucasus and Japan, from escapes and introductions.
• 🐾Raccoon dogNative to East Asia; the closely related tanuki lives in Japan. Introduced and invasive across much of Europe.
• 🐾RavenAcross the Northern Hemisphere, the most widespread of all crows.
• 🦊Red foxAcross Europe, Asia, North America and North Africa. It was introduced to Australia in the 1830s and 1840s and is now an invasive predator there.
• 🦌ReindeerCircumpolar: the Arctic, subarctic, tundra and mountain regions of North America, Europe and Asia.
• 🐾RheaArgentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay; a small feral population lives in northeastern Germany.
• 🐦RobinEurope, east to Western Siberia and south to North Africa.
• 🐾SaigaSteppes of Kazakhstan and Russia's Kalmykia and Astrakhan regions, wintering into Uzbekistan, plus western Mongolia.
• 🦎SalamanderMostly the Northern Hemisphere, richest in eastern North America; some in Central and South America.
• 🦂ScorpionEvery continent except Antarctica.
• 🐾ShrewAlmost worldwide, except New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and most of South America (a few now live in the northern Andes).
• 🐾Slow wormWestern, northern and central Europe; closely related slow worms reach eastern Europe and western Asia.
• 🐾StoatEurasia and northern North America; introduced to New Zealand.
• 🐾StorkTwenty species of large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with stout bills.
• 🐟SturgeonEastern North America, from New Brunswick in Canada to Florida, plus a reintroduced population in the Baltic Sea region of Europe.
• 🦢SwanEurope, Asia and North America, plus the black swan of Australia.
• 🐢TerrapinDiamondback: US East Coast from Cape Cod to the Florida Keys, the Gulf of Mexico coast and Bermuda.
• 🐍ViperThe Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia. The adder ranges from Britain across Eurasia to the Pacific, north of the Arctic Circle.
• 🐾VoleAcross North America, Europe and Asia.
• 🦅VultureOld World vultures: Europe, Africa and Asia. New World vultures and condors: North and South America.
• 🐾WeaselEurope, Asia and North America; the least weasel crossed to North America about 200,000 years ago.
• 🐗Wild boarNative to much of Europe, Asia and North Africa; introduced to the Americas and Oceania, where it is often invasive.
• 🐈WildcatContinental Europe, Scotland, Turkey and the Caucasus. It has died out in England, Wales and Ireland.
• 🐺WolfAcross much of North America, Europe and Asia, from Arctic tundra to forest, steppe and desert edges.
• 🐾WolverineNorthern forests and tundra of the Northern Hemisphere: Canada, Alaska, the Nordic countries, Russia and Siberia.
• 🐦WoodpeckerWorldwide except Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the polar regions.
• 🐾WrenThe Americas, plus the Eurasian wren across Europe, Asia and North Africa.

How each answer is decided: How we answer. Every animal, in one list: All animals.