Nature

Basque Country wildlife and plants: Pottok ponies, sheep, vultures and great beech forests

Basque Country wildlife: Pottok ponies, Manech sheep, betizu cattle, griffon vultures, the Pyrenean desman, migrating birds and the great beech forests.

By Eztebe4 min

Between the ocean and the mountains, the Basque Country — Euskal Herria, on both sides of the border — is home to animal breeds found nowhere else, spectacular birds of prey and one of the largest beech forests in Europe. Here are the species to know about, and where to see them.

Iconic mountain animals

The pottok, the little Basque horse

The pottok belongs to the Cantabrian-Pyrenean family of horses. It stands between 1.15 and 1.47 m and rarely weighs more than 350 kg; its small, hard hooves are well suited to the mountains. Originally black, bay or chestnut, it is sometimes piebald today as a result of crossbreeding.

  • Mountain pottoks live semi-wild, in herds, and are rounded up only once or twice a year to be looked after.
  • Around 90% of pottoks live in the Basque Country. The breed association was founded in 1971.
  • An endangered breed: in 2023, INRAE (France’s national research institute for agriculture, food and the environment) listed it among the French horse breeds at risk of extinction.

Tip: if you come across them in the mountains, don’t feed them and keep your distance.

The betizu, the wild cow

The betizu is a small, hardy cow with a wheat-coloured coat and lyre-shaped horns. Only about 300 remain, around sixty of them in the French Basque Country; three-quarters live in Navarre. They are also found in Gipuzkoa (Adarra, Leitzaran, Jaizkibel) and in Biscay. In Basque mythology, the betizu inspired the figures of Behigorri and Zezengorri, guardians of the cave of the goddess Mari.

Dairy sheep

  • The red-headed Manech (manech tête rousse): with around 200,000 head, it is the most numerous Pyrenean breed, found mainly in Lower Navarre and Lower Soule. White fleece, russet head and legs, no horns: it is the most productive Pyrenean breed and supplies the milk for Ossau-Iraty. It is very well suited to transhumance.
  • The black-headed Manech (manech tête noire) and the Basco-Béarnaise are the other two breeds permitted for Ossau-Iraty.
  • The Latxa and the Carranzana, on the Spanish side, provide the milk for Idiazabal.

See Basque cuisine and its cheeses.

Birds of prey and migratory birds

The griffon vulture

With a wingspan of about 2.60 m, the griffon vulture is a strict scavenger that spots the carcasses of large animals from the air. After coming close to extinction in the early 20th century, it survived mainly in the Iberian Peninsula, then recolonised part of its former range thanks to protection measures. In the Basque Country, the largest colony is in Valderejo Natural Park, in Álava.

Organbidexka, the migration pass

At an altitude of about 1,300 m, in the municipality of Larrau, the Col d’Organbidexka is one of the great bird-migration watchpoints in Europe: the air currents there help birds cross the Pyrenees. The LPO (Ligue pour la protection des oiseaux, the French bird protection league) monitors the migration from mid-July to mid-November, with volunteers trained on site. Birds seen passing through include black kites, common swifts and common buzzards, many of them heading for Africa.

The Txingudi and Urdaibai marshes

  • Txingudi (Irun): the Plaiaundi ecological park protects 24 hectares of wetland, where up to 175 species of migratory birds stop over.
  • Urdaibai (Biscay): a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 1984, whose marshes are a major staging post between Europe and Africa. The Urdaibai Bird Center, opened in 2009, studies the birds here.

Whales and dolphins

Out at sea, the Bay of Biscay is also home to cetaceans: see our dedicated guide.

A rare animal of mountain streams: the Pyrenean desman

The Pyrenean desman, nicknamed the ‘trumpet rat’, is about 25 cm long, with a long, highly sensitive snout and webbed hind feet. It lives in clear-water mountain streams. Listed as ‘Endangered’ by the IUCN since 2021, it has lost nearly half of its population since 2011. On the Spanish side, it is found notably in the Bidasoa, the Leitzaran and the Deba.

Forests

  • The Irati forest: around 17,200 hectares straddling the border, described as the largest beech forest in Western Europe, with pedunculate oaks and ash too. Protected under Natura 2000.
  • The Señorío de Bertiz (Navarre): 2,040 hectares of beech, oak and alder, home to red deer, roe deer and wild boar; one of the finest beech forests in the Iberian Peninsula.
  • Urkiola, Aiako Harria, Gorbeia: the Basque natural parks protect large expanses of forest.

To explore these places: nature escapes and the best hikes.

Watching without disturbing

  • Keep your distance from animals, even pottoks and sheep.
  • Keep your dog on a lead, especially near flocks and herds.
  • Use binoculars rather than going close to nests and colonies.
  • Don’t pick anything in nature reserves.

Sources

Ongi etorri — happy wildlife watching!

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