Amazing Animals Morocco

Morocco has Mediterranean climate along the coast while the Rif Mountains contrast with the forested Atlas Mountains and the arid climate of the Sahara Desert. The country is home to 490 recorded species of birds, over 90 species of reptiles, over 20 species of bats, a dozen species of whales and dolphins, and 105 species of mammals.

Official National Animal

The Barbary Lion

The lion is commonly depicted in clothing featuring the Moroccan flag colors, while the Moroccan coat-of-arms has two lions supporting the shield.

This lion was also known as the Atlas or Nubian lion and was native to the Atlas and Rif Mountian and the forests of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. Unfortunately, since the killing of the last Barbary lion in 1922, this species has been extinct in the wild.

Barbary macaques are the most iconic and well-known animals in Morocco. Some of them are located in Gibraltar, the European side of the Europe-Africa border, and these are the only wild monkeys on the continent. They make their habitats in the Rif and Atlas Mountains.

Crested porcupines are a species of rodents that are native to sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, and Italy. The Moroccan population is one of the few Mediterranean ones, alongside Algeria, Sicily, and Tunisia. These porcupines can be found at high altitudes above sea level in the Moroccan Anti-Atlas, another mountain range of the country.

Culver's gazelles are a species of gazelles native to North Africa and can be seen in Morocco, Algeria, Western Sahara, and Tunisia. Their habitat is woodlands.

Desert monitors are a species of monitor lizards that are native to North Africa and southern Asia. They are carnivorous and feed on a wide variety of both invertebrates and vertebrates.

Egyptian mongooses are not endemic to Egypt and can be found throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa, and were either introduced or is native to the Iberian Peninsula and northwestern Africa.

Fennec foxes are the smallest species of canid in the world. They are native to the deserts of North Africa, from Western Sahara to the Sinai Peninsula, and are characterized by ther extremely large ears, which are ideal to dissipate heat. These foxes live in the desert and dig out burrows to hide in during the day.

Puff adders are a species of venomous snakes found across much of sub-Saharan Africa (except for the rainforest and tropical regions), as well as the southwestern Arabian Peninsula and southern Morocco. In Morocco they live in savannas and grasslands and with their color pattern stay camouflaged in these arid environments. They are the most common and widespread species of snakes on the continent and feed on mammals, amphibians, birds, and lizards.

Saharan striped polecats are a species of mustelids native to the to the surrounding areas of the Sahara. These mammals feeds on small birds, lizards, and their eggs, as well as small mammals. They track their prey by scent and dig them out of their burrows.

Sand cats are a small species of wild cats that are native to several isolated areas, from Morocco and the rest of northwestern Africa to western Asia and the Arabian Peninsula. These cats spend their days resting in underground dens and emerge at night, hunting for rodents and small birds. They are known for traveling long distances, and moves in fact 5.4 km / 3.4 mi on average per night.

Striped hyenas are a lesser-known species of hyenas in Africa alongside their relatives, the spotted hyenas, widely known as the laughing hyenas. These hyenas are threatened with fewer than 10,000 left in the wild. Hyenas are known to attack domestic livestock in Morocco, particularly poultry, sheep, goats, and dogs.

West African crocodiles are a species of desert crocodiles related to the Nile crocodiles. These are the only crocodiles found in Morocco. They inhabit the arid desert of the Sahara and the Sahet.

Birds

Egyptian vultures are a small species of the Old World vultures native to northwestern Africa, southwestern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and the Arabian Peninsula. They make their homes in large, dead pines. Egyptian vultures were of particular importance in Ancient Egypt and had their own hieroglyph.

Northern bald ibises are also known as the waldrapp or the hermit ibises. These are the only species of birds endemic to Morocco. They can be seen in a very small area, south of Agadir, in the southern half of the country, and inhabit semi-desert, barren and rocky habitats, usually next to running water.

Marine Animals

Atlantic spotted dolphins are a species of dolphins that are native to warm temperate and tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean, as well as parts of the Mediterranean Sea. Their color varies as they grow older, going from gray-white as a calf to black with a white spot at full maturation. These dolphins are highly sociable and live in groups of 5 to 15.

Berber toads are also known as Moorish toads, the Mauritanian toads, the Moroccan toads, or the pantherine toads. They are a species of toads endemic to northwestern Africa (Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia) and southern Spain, where it was introduced. These toads inhabit subtropical and tropical dry cork oak forests as well as freshwater marshes, rivers, arable land, plantations, and even urban areas, at elevations up to 2,650 m 8,694 ft above sea level.

Dwarf sperm whales are a species of sperm whales that inhabit temperate and tropical oceans around the world, and particularly love the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean waters. It is a suction feeder, which means it sucks its prey (mostly squid) into its mouth.

Mediterranean monk seals are the world's rarest pinniped species with fewer than 700 remaining in the wild. They can be found across the Mediterranean Basin and the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Morocco is one of the four countries (alongside Spain, Portugal, and Mauritania) to have signed an agreement to implement a conservation plan for this endangered seal species.