An impressive fauna
Generous and well-preserved, the fauna is particularly rich. Some species re-established themselves following the rural exodus of the 1950s, while others have been reintroduced by man. There are currently 89 species of mammal and 208 species of bird in the Parc National des Cévennes area alone, not to mention the more discreet reptiles, amphibians and fish. Along the way, you may come face to face with hinds, foxes, hares, roe deer, wild boar, otters, mouflons, Tengmaln's owls.... But you can also pay a visit to the most impressive of them all.
Les loups du Gévaudan (Sainte-Lucie). A small company of 130 wolves from Mongolia, Europe and Canada live in the Sainte-Lucie reserve in the Margeride region. These wolves, reintroduced to Lozère, live in semi-liberty in a 20-hectare park. In the legendary lands of Gévaudan, the wolf has a very bad reputation.
European bison (Sainte-Eulalie-en-Margeride). Absent from Margeride lands for 1,500 years, bison bonasus (or European bison) have been reintroduced and are now enjoying a peaceful life in the Sainte-Eulalie reserve in south-western Margeride. Originally from the Bialowieza forest in Poland, where it has miraculously stood the test of time, this stocky, heavy animal is a close relative of the auroch, with which it has often been confused. Their acclimatization in Margeride, begun in 1991, has been so successful that the first births at the park took place in 1993. Placid, playful and even playful, they live as a family in a forest environment where they find most of their food.
Birds of prey (Jonte Gorges and Cévennes). The capercaillie is one of the many birds and birds of prey to be found in the area. This 5 kg bird with a 1.30 m wingspan, dressed in slate-grey plumage on the body, dark brown on the wings, with a metallic sheen and golden-green plastron, is impossible to ignore. Thus attired, at courtship time, it serenades in the trees, or waltzes on the ground. And if an adversary points the tip of his beak to conquer his lady, he proves to be in a very belligerent mood. The capercaillie has been reintroduced into the Parc des Cévennes, partly to safeguard this bird population, which is facing a problematic future in Europe. Two species of vulture have also been reintroduced to the region: the griffon vulture and the black vulture. Decimated in France until the middle of the 20th century, the griffon vulture (or bouldras, in Cevennes) was reintroduced to the region in 1981. Today, this great bird of prey once again flies at the bottom of the Tarn gorges and causses. Completely harmless, it never attacks live prey, but is a remarkable scavenger, cleaning up pastures. Faithful for life, from December onwards, vultures offer each other an enviable wedding: a loving, aerial duet, wing against wing... The Egyptian vulture, reintroduced in 1992, has adapted just as well to the gorges as its cousin. About the same size as the griffon vulture, the arrian (its local name) is a solitary bird that can travel as far as Spain before returning in pairs to its place of origin. As for golden eagles, there are 5 to 6 pairs that also seem to thrive in this environment.
A remarkable flora
To the north, you'll find a wide variety of flowers and plants for culinary, aromatic and medicinal purposes. Daffodils and narcissi, which cover the damp meadows in May and June, are still collected here for the luxury perfume industry. Gaillet-jaune, a small plant very common in Margeride, has the property of curdling milk, and was used long before rennet was invented in the 19th century! The yellow flower of mountain arnica is picked during the same months, but on the moors. It's a medicinal plant known for treating bruises. Large yellow gentian, whose tonic root has an aperitive virtue, also flowers on pastures and moors in July. Fireweed, or St. Anthony's laurel, blossoms along roadsides and in clearings during the two months of midsummer. Purple foxglove is a beautiful lady of the slopes and clearings, with flowers shaped like the finger of a glove. Erithrone, also known as dog's tooth, grows on the heath between April and May, but rest assured, it doesn't bite! Pinguicula vulgaris, or butterwort, feasts on small insects thanks to its carnivorous leaves, and flowers from May to July. The large-flowered calament (or Aubrac tea) blooms in July and August; the wood anemone (or Sylvie) appears from March to May, and finally the famous bilberry (or bilberry) bears its flowers from April to June and treats you to its fruit in August. In peat bogs, drosera, a tiny carnivorous plant, thrives in an acidic environment.
The flora of the Cévennes is a little less rich, but there are still five remarkable varieties. The Ardèche dryopteris is a fern found mainly on the eastern edge of the Cévennes. Sabot-de-Vénus is a fairly common variety of orchid, with spectacular flowers in clearings and damp woods. The daisy-leaved soapwort, very rare in France, grows in the rocky grasslands of the Causse Méjean. The Saint Michel aster blooms from September to October on the formerly cultivated slopes of the Tarn and Jonte gorges. Finally, let's not forget the cardabelle or acanthus-leaved carline, a protected species of thistle that grows low to the ground and is the emblem of the Causse, often found nailed to old doors and with the ability to tell the weather!
The Mediterranean side of the department, meanwhile, is distinguished by just two plants in particular: summer spiranthe, a discreet orchid that grows below 700 m, near streams or under rock seeps, and Durieu's isoete, discovered at the beginning of the century, which thrives at low altitudes, on temporary, schistose seeps.
