ANIMAL WORLD

Animal world, which is an important component of each ecosystem, is closely connected with Park's vegetation. There is a surprisingly small number of written materials about Maksimir's fauna, regarding the number of visitors of this famous Zagreb 's park.

The oldest known records date from the middle of 19 th century. The first recorded animals in Park Maksimir were white storks recorded on Zasch's lithography, and a note in Agramer Zeitung from 1853, that a wolf was seen only half an hour walk away from the Park. It is interesting to mention that the last wolf that came close to the city was killed in 1890 in neighboring Borongaj.

/ Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major), source: Davor Krnjeta /

In the past Park Maksimir was used for breeding many species. In the beginning of 19 th century here used to be a small lake with leeches used for medical purposes. Besides them, there was a small silkworm farm, beehive, poultry farm, pheasant farm, dove cot, pond with tortoises, deer farm…

/ Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), source: archive PIM /

Nowadays, although surrounded by a city, Park Maksimir is an important habitat to many animal species, many of which found their sanctuary right here. Park Maksimir's fauna has been significantly impoverished during adaptation of old Bishop's forest and because of urbanization. Many animal species have disappeared, mainly large herbivores like roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and deer (Cervus elaphus), as well as wolfs (Canis lupus). Out of mammal species we can see squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris), door mice and bats, as well as martens, foxes…

/ Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes), source: Davor Krnjeta /

Bird world of the Park is still rather rich. Until now 104 bird species have been recorded in Park Maksimir, of which 70 are regular or periodic nesting birds. The best developed is association of forest birds, and in number especially distinguished are hole-nesting birds: woodpeckers, tits, nuthatches and creepers. It is interesting to mention that the distribution of Middle Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos medius), a species endangered in Europe, is one of the largest in the world. On Maksimir lakes most commonly we can find mallard (Anas platyrhynchos). On forest ground we can find the following amphibians: Common toad (Bufo bufo), Fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra), Common frog (Rana temporaria) and Agile frog (Rana dalmatina), while in lakes the most abundant is Marsh frog (Rana ridibunda). Common species of reptiles is red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans), a species introduced from Northern America, and sometimes we can find European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) and European grass snake (Natrix natrix).

/ Common toad (Bufo bufo), source: archive PIM /

/ Fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra), source: Biljana Janev Hutinec /

Invertebrate fauna is still unexplored, but we can often see dragonflies, butterflies, and many other insect, and sometimes European crayfish.