Wildlife Holidays in Romania

Romania’s wild spine is made up of the extraordinary Carpathian Mountains, a 60-million-year-old, 600-mile-long chain of peaks that reaches heights of over 2,500m. This may not be Europe’s tallest range, but it is amongst the most beautiful and wildlife-rich, with its characteristic limestone ridges, jagged river gorges, buzzing flower meadows, and endless forests of fir, beech and spruce. Amongst these trees live the continent’s most awe-inspiring carnivores, including thriving populations of Wolf and the elusive Eurasian Lynx. It is Brown Bear, however, for which the Carpathians are most famous; nowhere else in Europe, outside of Russia, has more of these adaptable and misunderstood mammals. They are also fabulously easy to see, with dedicated hides often producing views of up to 20 individuals at a time.

Other magnificent mammals in this primeval landscape include European Bison, Carpathian Chamois, and a host of others such as Wild Boar, Red and Roe Deer, Eurasian Beaver, and European Wildcat. The birdlife is equally varied and impressive, with the forests holding Capercaillie, Hazel Grouse, Black, Grey-headed and Three-toed Woodpeckers, Nutcracker, Ural Owl, Red-breasted and Collared Flycatchers. Overhead, raptors like Goshawk, Honey Buzzard and Lesser Spotted Eagle soar, while rough rock-faces and crags are the rarefied haunt of the exquisite Wallcreeper.

Then there is the jaw-dropping variety of plants, insects, and other wildlife; the Carpathian Mountains hold one of Europe’s greatest botanical communities, with thousands of species, many of which are endemic. Amongst the most sought-after are Early Purple, Chalk Fragrant and Violet Bird’s-nest Orchids, as well as Carpathian Bellflower and Transylvanian Violet; the many blooms are a boon to Duke of Burgundy, Camberwell Beauty, Scarce Swallowtail, and Violet Copper butterflies. No less striking in its colouration is the black-and-yellow Fire Salamander, a denizen of the damp leaf litter.

Romania’s other globally renowned wildlife area is the most pristine river delta in Europe, and one of the continent’s largest wetlands: the Danube Delta. This is a seemingly unending expanse of shallow lakes, vegetation-fringed channels, flooded forests of poplar and willow, and floating reed-islands, transitioning close to the coast into brackish lagoons, saltmarsh and sandy beaches. If the great creatures of the mountains are large mammals, then those of the Danube Delta are certainly mighty birds, and in particular two species of pelican – Great White and endangered Dalmatian – that are amongst the most massive flying animals on Earth. Thousands of these giants breed in the delta, alongside other special waterbirds such as Whiskered, Black and White-winged Terns, Glossy Ibis, Ferruginous Duck, Great Bittern, Collared Pratincole, and most of the world population of Pygmy Cormorant. Songbirds like Penduline Tit, Bearded Reedling and Great Reed Warbler flit through the waterside vegetation, while passing predators can include Marsh Harrier, Red-footed Falcon and White-tailed Eagle. In winter, breeding assemblages are replaced by tens of thousands of geese flocking to the delta and adjacent arable land: mostly Greater White-fronted and Greylag, but with a sprinkling of the stunning and rare Red-breasted Goose.

Beyond the birds, the delta has its own community of distinctive mammals. Golden Jackal can be seen patrolling the channel banks and reedy edges, while the water itself is the hunting ground of Eurasian Otter. An even more unusual creature shares this aquatic habitat: the European Mink, perhaps Europe’s most endangered mammal, which has its greatest remaining stronghold in the Danube Delta. Reptiles and amphibians, including Eastern Grass and Dice Snakes, European Pond Terrapin and Marsh Frog, can sometimes be encountered in the shallower waters, while the jewel-like Freyer’s Purple Emperor butterfly lays its eggs in the delta’s native willow groves.

Even away from these two great wildernesses, Romania remains a haven for wildlife. Centuries of low-intensity agricultural practices – horse-and-cart transport, traditional oak woodland and meadow management – have preserved ecosystems and concentrations of species that have largely vanished elsewhere in Europe. An excellent example of this can be found amongst the arid steppe grasslands and ancient oak-lime forests of the Babadag Plateau. Here, specialists of shrub and grassland, like Calandra Lark, Lesser Grey Shrike, Ortolan Bunting and Isabelline Wheatear, thrive alongside endangered European Ground Squirrel, Balkan Green Lizard, Predatory Bush Cricket and butterflies like Lattice Brown and Lesser Fiery Copper. This area also supports one of Eastern Europe’s densest concentrations of birds of prey, including Long-legged and Steppe Buzzards, Levant Sparrowhawk, Saker Falcon, and Eastern Imperial, Booted and Short-toed Eagles. Across the whole of Europe, few countries have as much to offer the natural history traveller as Romania.

What's Special About Romania's Wildlife?

Romania supports a greater concentration of charismatic creatures and unspoiled wild places than almost anywhere else in Europe. Its two great wilderness are the Carpathian Mountains and the Danube Delta; the former is home to thousands of Brown Bears, alongside other ultimate mammalian icons like Wolf and Eurasian Lynx, while its wooded slopes and emergent peaks also support extraordinary birds like Capercaillie, Three-toed Woodpecker and Wallcreeper. The delta, meanwhile, offers one of the world’s most spectacular avian experiences, with thousands of Great White and Dalmatian Pelicans breeding amongst a scarcely believable array of other waterbirds.

Alongside the bird and mammal fauna is a superb supporting cast of plants, insects, reptiles and amphibians. The Carpathians support an unparalleled community of flowering plants, including many rare orchids, and Romania as a whole contains over 210 species of butterfly – nearly four times the UK’s total. Finally, Fire Salamander, European Pond Terrapin and Balkan Green Lizard are just a few of the country’s herpetological wonders. If you want to see European nature on its wildest and grandest scale, then Romania is a must-visit destination.