FAUNA

The evolution of the animal world on the Pitiusas Islands is typical of islands in general. The fact that Ibiza is an island means that a very limited number of animal species have established their habitat there (it has not been connected to the mainland by land for 5 million years). Whenever the environmental conditions changed as a result of the plains flooding or climate change, for instance, animals had almost no chance of migrating to more favourable surroundings. Many of the species that had settled on the islands therefore became extinct. Then came man and subdued the earth and had dominion over every living thing that moved upon it, feeding on the animals that he liked best. This made the problem worse because, with too few escape routes for the animals, yet more species died out. As a result, there are now relatively few species of fauna on the Pitiusas Islands, at least as far as mammals are concerned. To add to that, many of the existing species are in danger of extinction.

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FROG (Rana perezi)
Ibiza's dry climate means that life is not easy for amphibians here. Luckily for the Iberian water frog, water is stored in large open pools in rural areas of Ibiza, which means that this little animal is very common on the island. Thanks to our biological water treatment plant, Can Martí offers an ideal habitat for them.

PITIUSAN WALLl LIZARD (Podarcis pityusensis)
Due to their insularity, the Pitiusas islands are home to relatively few reptiles; for example there are no snakes. The Pitiusan wall lizard, a lovely little reptile, inhabits the islands in large numbers and is the only autochthonous land animal of this archipelago. It is known for certain that it arrived here long before man did.

RABBIT (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
Rabbits could have reached Ibiza five million years ago, when it was joined to the mainland by spits of land. However, it is much more likely that humans brought them here at some point in the past, as was presumably the case with all the land mammals that live on the island nowadays.

IBIZIAN GENET (Genetta genetta isabelae)
Ibiza's most exotic mammal is undoubtedly the genet. It is a subspecies that is slightly smaller than the common genet and only exists on this island. They are very shy, elusive animals that very rarely allow themselves to be spotted.

HEDGEHOG (Erinaceus europaeus)
Ibizan hedgehogs are somewhat smaller and lighter-coloured than those of Central Europe. We particularly value them because they are of great help to us by keeping the snail population down. As no road runs past Can Marti, their life expectancy is considerably longer here.

EUROPEAN POND TURTLE (Emys orbicularis)
There are records of existence of the European pond turtle in Majorca and Minorca, but not in Ibiza. However, reliable sources tell us that these amphibians also inhabit the wetlands next to Talamanca beach, close to the city of Ibiza.

MOORISH GECKO (Tarentola mauretanica)
On warm nights, especially in the countryside, these geckos can be seen lying completely still, sticking vertically to lit walls waiting to catch insects. Should an unfortunate moth come within their reach, they inch towards their prey as if in slow motion, before pouncing as fast as lightning and gobbling it up in one go.