Alpine ibexes

The Alpine ibex (Capra ibex), also known as the steinbock, is a species of wild goat that lives in the mountains of the European Alps. It is a sexuality dimorphic species with larger males who carry larger, curved horns. The coat colour is typically brownish grey. Ibex tend to live in steep, rough terrain above the snow line. They are also social, although adult males and females segregate for most of the year, coming together only to mate. Four distinct groups exist; adult male groups, female-offsping groups, groups of young individuals, and mixed sex groups.

During the breeding season, males fight for access to females and use their long horns in agonistic behaviours. After being extirpated from most areas by the 19th century, the Alpine ibex was reintroduced to parts of its historical range and all individuals living today descend from the stock in Gran Paradiso National Park in northwest Italy. The species is currently listed as of least concern by the IUCN.

Gran Paradiso National Park (Italian: Parco nazionale del Gran Paradiso, French: Parc national du Grand-Paradis) is an Italian national park in the Graian Alps, between the Aosta Valley and Piedmont regions. The park is named after Gran Paradiso mountain, which is located in the park. The land the park encompasses was initially protected in order to protect the Alpine ibex, but now also protects other species.

Fauna of Europe is all the animals living in Europe and its surrounding seas and islands. Since there is no natural biogeographic boundary in the east and south between Europe and Asia, the term "fauna of Europe" is somewhat elusive. Europe is the western part of the Palearctic ecozone (which in turn is part of the Holarctic). Lying within the temperate region, (north of the equator) the wildlife is not as rich as in warmer regions, but nevertheless diverse due to the variety of habitats and the faunal richness of the Eurasia as a whole.

Before the arrival of humans European fauna was more diverse and widespread than today. The European megafauna of today is much reduced from its former splendour. The Holocene extinction drastically reduced numbers and distribution of megafauna. Many of these species still exist in smaller number, while others thrive in developed continent free from natural predators. Many other species went extinct all together.

Capra is a genus of mammals, the goats or wild goats, composed of up to 9 species, including the wild goat, the markhor, and several species known as ibex.

The domestic goat (Capra aegagrus hircus) is a domesticated subspecies of the wild goat (Capra aegagrus).

Wild goats are animals of mountain habitats. They are very agile and hardy, able to climb on bare rock and survive on sparse vegetation. They can be distinguished from the genus Ovis, which includes sheep, by the presence of scent glands close to the feet, in the groin, and in front of the eyes, and the absence of other facial glands, and by the presence of a beard in the males, and of hairless calluses on the knees of the forelegs.

The Rocky Mountain goat is in a separate genus, Oreamnos.

Italy has one of the highest levels of faunal biodiversity in Europe with over 57,000 species recorded (more than a third of all European fauna).

This is due to Italy’s

86% of the Italian fauna is land-based, 14% is aquatic. Insects represent about two thirds of all of Italy’s fauna.

The Graian Alps (Italian: Alpi Graie; French: Alpes Grées) are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps.

The Alps are one of the great mountain range systems of Europe stretching approximately 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) across eight Alpine countries from Austria and Slovenia in the east, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, France to the west and Italy and Monaco to the south. The mountains were formed over hundreds of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn. Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,810.45 m (15,782 ft) is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains many peaks higher than 4,000 m (13,123 ft), known as the "four-thousanders".

The altitude and size of the range affects the climate in Europe; in the mountains precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as ibex live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m (11,155 ft), and plants such as Edelweiss grow in rocky areas in lower elevations as well as in higher elevations. Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Paleolithic era. A mummified man, determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991. By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established. Hannibal may have crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800 Napoleon crossed one of the mountain passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, and artists, in particular the Romantics, followed by the golden age of alpinism as mountaineers began to ascend the peaks. In World War II the Third Reich invaded the Alpine countries, with the exception of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; Adolf Hitler kept a base of operation in the Bavarian Alps throughout the war.

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and independently. All animals are also heterotrophs, meaning they must ingest other organisms or their products for sustenance.

Most known animal phyla appeared in the fossil record as marine species during the Cambrian explosion, about 542 million years ago. Animals are divided into various sub-groups, including birds, mammals, reptiles, fish and insects.

The even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla) are ungulates (hoofed animals) whose weight is borne about equally by the third and fourth toes, rather than mostly or entirely by the third as in odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls), such as horses.

Artiodactyla comes from (Greek: ἄρτιος (ártios), "even", and δάκτυλος (dáktylos), "finger/toe"), so the name "even-toed" is a translation of the description. This group includes pigs, peccaries, hippopotamuses, camels, llamas, chevrotains (mouse deer), deer, giraffes, pronghorn, antelopes, sheep, goats, and cattle. The group excludes whales (Cetacea) even though DNA sequence data indicate that they share a common ancestor, making the group paraphyletic. The phylogenetically accurate group is Cetartiodactyla (from Cetacea + Artiodactyla) .

There are about 220 artiodactyl species, including many that are of great nutritional, economic, and cultural importance to humans.

A further distinguishing feature of the group is the shape of the astragalus (talus), a bone in the ankle joint, which has a double-pulley structure. This gives the foot greater flexibility.

Nature photography refers to a wide range of photography taken outdoors and devoted to displaying natural elements such as landscapes, wildlife, plants, and close-ups of natural scenes and textures. Nature photography tends to put a stronger emphasis on the aesthetic value of the photo than other photography genres, such as photojournalism and documentary photography.

Nature photographs are published in scientific, travel and cultural magazines such as National Geographic Magazine, National Wildlife Magazine and Audubon Magazine or other more specific magazines such as Outdoor Photographer and Nature's Best Photography. Well known nature photographers include Frans Lanting, Galen Rowell, Eliot Porter and Art Wolfe.

Wildlife photography is the act of taking photographs of wildlife.

Wildlife photography is regarded as one of the more challenging forms of photography. As well as needing sound technical skills, such as being able to expose correctly, wildlife photographers generally need good field craft skills. For example, some animals are difficult to approach and thus a knowledge of the animal's behavior is needed in order to be able to predict their actions. Photographing some species may require stalking skills or the use of a hide/blind for concealment.

While wildlife photographs can be taken using basic equipment, successful photography of some types of wildlife requires specialist equipment, such as macro lenses for insects, long focal length lenses for birds and underwater cameras for marine life. However, a great wildlife photograph can also be the result of being in the right place at the right time.

In the early days of photography, it was almost impossible to get a photograph of wildlife, due to the slow lenses and the low sensitivity of early photographic media.

The Italian national parks cover about five percent of the country. The parks are managed by the Ministry of the Environment (Italian: Ministero dell'Ambiente).