An impressive fauna
Generous and preserved, the fauna is particularly rich. Some species were reintroduced following the rural exodus of the 1950s, others were reintroduced by man. There are currently 89 species of mammals, 208 species of birds, and this, only in the area of the Cevennes National Park; without forgetting, the reptiles, the amphibians and the fish which are more discreet but which are nevertheless present. Along the paths and hikes, you can come face to face with deer, foxes, hares, roe deer, wild boars, otters, mouflons, Tengmaln owls... But you can also visit the most impressive of them
The wolves of Gévaudan (Sainte-Lucie) - A small society of 130 wolves from Mongolia, Europe and Canada is grouped in the Sainte-Lucie reserve, in Margeride. These wolves, reintroduced in Lozere, live in semi-liberty in a park of 20 ha. In the land of legends of Gévaudan, the wolf has a bad reputation
TheEuropean bison(Sainte-Eulalie-en-Margeride) - Absent from the lands of Margeride for 1 500 years, the bonasus bison (or European bison) have been reintroduced and are now enjoying peaceful days in the Sainte-Eulalie reserve, in the south-west of the Margeride. Coming from the forest of Bialowieza, in Poland, where it has miraculously resisted time, this stocky and heavy animal is a neighbor of the auroch with which it has often been confused. Started in 1991, their acclimatization in Margeride was so successful that the first births in the park took place in 1993. Placid, playful and even captious, it lives with its family in a forest environment where it finds most of its food.
Birds of prey (Jonte Gorges and Cévennes) - Among the birds of prey of all kinds that live in the area, let's mention the capercaillie. One cannot ignore this bird of 5 kg for 1,30 m of wingspan, dressed with a slate grey plumage on the body, dark brown on the wings, with metallic reflections and a green mordor plastron. Thus dressed, at the time of the nuptial parades, it launches out in serenades in the trees, or dances a waltz on the ground. And if an opponent points the tip of his beak to conquer his beautiful, he reveals himself in a very belligerent mood. The capercaillie has been reintroduced in the Cevennes Park, in particular to safeguard this bird population with a problematic future in Europe. Two species of vultures have also been reintroduced in the region: the griffon vulture and the black vulture. Decimated in France until the middle of the 20th century, the griffon vulture (or boulder, in Cevenol) was reintroduced in the region in 1981. Today, this great bird of prey flies again at the bottom of the Tarn gorges and the causses. Totally harmless, it never attacks living prey, but proves to be a remarkable scavenger, a real "cleaner" of the pastures. Faithful for life, the vultures offer themselves, from December, a very enviable wedding: a loving and aerial duet, wing against wing... The Egyptian vulture, reintroduced in 1992, has adapted 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 the golden eagles, there are 5 to 6 couples that also seem to enjoy this environment
A remarkable flora
In the north, there is a beautiful variety of flowers and plants for culinary, aromatic or medicinal purposes. Daffodils and narcissus are still collected for the luxury perfumery and cover the humid meadows in May and June. The yellow gaillet, a small plant very common in Margeride, has the property of curdling milk, and it was used long before rennet was invented in the 19th century! The yellow flower of the arnica of the mountains is collected during the same months, but on the moor. It is a medicinal plant known to treat bruises. The big yellow gentian, whose tonic root has an aperitive virtue, also flowers on the pastures and the moor in July. The fireweed, or St. Anthony's laurel, stands out for its flowering on the roadside and in clearings during the two months of midsummer. The purple foxglove is a beautiful lady, in love with the slopes and the clearings, whose flowers have the shape of a finger of glove. The erithrone, also called dog's tooth, grows on the moor between April and May, but rest assured, it does not bite! The pinguicule vulgaire, or butterwort, feasts on small insects with its carnivorous leaves and blooms 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 cranberry) bears its flowers from April to June and treats you to its fruits in August. In the peat bogs, the drosera, a tiny carnivorous plant, flourishes in an acid environment
The flora of the Cévennes is a little less rich, but there are still five remarkable varieties. The dryopteris of Ardeche is a fern that can be found on the eastern edge of the Cevennes. The sabot-de-Vénus is a fairly common variety of orchid whose spectacular flowers can be seen in clearings and damp woods. The daisy-leaved saponaria, very rare in France, grows in the rocky grasslands of the Causse Méjean. The aster of Saint Michel 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 leaf carline, a protected species of thistle that grows low to the ground, the emblem of the Causse, which is often found nailed to old doors and which has the property of indicating the weather!
The Mediterranean side of the department, on the other hand, is distinguished only by two plants in particular: the summer spiranthe, a discreet orchid that grows below 700 m, near streams or under the seepage of rocks, and the Durieu isoete, discovered at the beginning of the century, which thrives at low altitudes, on temporary and schistose seeps
