There
is no doubt that the Bieszczady Park and its buffer zone represent the
most valuable refuge for mammals and birds in Poland and one of the most
valuable in Europe. In all, the records in Bieszczady include 284
vertebrate species, 231 in the Bieszczady Park alone (1 agnathan, 10
fish, 11 amphibians, 7 reptiles, 144 birds and 58 mammals).
The most primitive of mammalian species occurring in the Park is an agnathan – brook lamprey Lampetra planeri.
The
studies of the fish fauna completed in the past (Solewski 1964, Rolik
1971) and recently (Kukula 1995), show major changes in the composition
of fish species occurring in the Bieszczady brooks and streams over the
most recent decades. Trout have disappeared and the numbers of
undermouth and barbel have dropped whereas grayling and perch have
become more numerous. The population of river trout is still fairly
numerous. The research carried out by Kukula (1995), provide a kind of
checklist of fish species occurring in the brooks and stream of the
Bieszczady National Park: miller’s-thumb Cottus poecilopus, brook minnow
Phoxinus phoxinus, river trout Salmo trutta m. fario, loach Orthias
barbatus, chub Leuciscus cephalus, spotted barbel Barbus petenyi, rifle
minnow Alburnoides bipunctatus, grayling Thymallus thymallus, perch
Perca fluviatilis, dace Leuciscus leuciscus, and undermouth Chondrostoma
nasus. The predatory fish species feed on the larvae of caddis-flies,
stone-flies and May-flies, as well as fry of other species of fish. For
this reason, the occurrence of high numbers of perch and grayling in the
streams of the Bieszczady Park can threaten the populations of river
trout.
Amphibians represent
another interesting “old evolutionally ” group of vertebrates, living
both in terrestrial and aquatic habitats. In the Park and its buffer
zone, 11 species were found:
1.
Crested newt Triturus cristatus is a lowland species, rare in the Park,
occurring in lower valleys (up to 600 m a.s.l.). It occurs in two
forms: “cristatus” and “dobrobicus”.
2.
Mountain newt Triturus alpestris is a rare species which can be seen
mostly in sites within the 500–700 m a.s.l. altitudinal zone. It seems
that recently the population numbers have dropped within recent years.
3.
Smooth newt Triturus vulgaris very rarely found outside the Park
limits, e.g. in the San river valley at the foot of the Otryt range (in
the Park’s buffer zone).
4.
Carpathian newt Triturus montandoni is the most numerous newt species in
the Bieszczady mountains, reaching up to 1 100 m a.s.l. Its a
Carpathian endemite.
5. Salamander Salamandra salamandra is a fairly common species at the 500–900 m a.s.l. zone.
6.
Yellow-bellied toad Bombina variegata is a very common species in the
Bieszczady mountains which sometimes occurs up to altitudes over 1 000 m
a.s.l.
7. European toad Bufo bufo is fairly often recorded in the Bieszczady mountains occurring at altitudes up to ca. 900 m a.s.l.
8. Green toad Bufo viridis is a very rare species, recorded in the Bieszczadzki Park on only a few sites.
9. Tree frog Hyla arborea is a species very rarely recorded only in a few sites.
10.
Common frog Rana temporaria is the most common amphibian species in the
Bieszczady mountains occurring throughout the area up to the highest
peaks.
11. Agile frog Rana dalmatina was recorded by Kowalski in 1970 and never seen since.
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Bieszczadzki
Vertebrate fauna 
