Mercantour ( French Mercantour ) - a national park in France , in the departments Alpes-Maritimes and Alpes of Haute Provence
| Mercantour | |
|---|---|
| fr. Mercantour | |
 Verdon River Valley | |
| IUCN Category II ( National Park ) | |
| basic information | |
| Square | 685 km² |
| Established | 1979 year |
| Attendance | 800 thousand |
| Location | |
| A country |
|
mercantour.eu | |
General information
The area of the national park is 685 km². Located in the Mercantour massif in the Maritime Alps , it includes the valleys of seven rivers:
- Roya
- Bevera
- Lucky
- Tine
- the upper course of the Var river and its tributary Xian ( en: Cians , fr: Cians )
- Verdon
- Yubey
Created in 1979, about 800 thousand people visit it annually. The park also includes Valley of Miracles , where more than 40,000 prehistoric petroglyphs have been discovered .
Flora and Fauna
The main tree species of the park are fir , spruce , larch , European cedar , stone oak , olive , rhododendron . More than 2,000 species of plants grow here, among which rare ones such as edelweiss , curly lily , saxifrage , juvenile , and gentian .
On the slopes of the gorges of the park there are several thousand chamois , well adapted to the steep slopes of river gorges. Mountain goats , mouflons , marmots and rarer ermines are also found. In the undergrowth below the mountain slopes live hares , wild boars , deer , roe deer , a variety of birds and even about 50 wolves .
Links
- Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mercantour
- Park official website