Nature of Tenerife

For an island that small and rocky, the variety in fauna and flora Tenerife has to offer is almost incredible. Whereas the south is rather dry and desert like, the north is lush and green right down to the coastline. All over the island, one can find beautiful spots, like the Masca gorge in the west or the Teide volcano, the island’s highlight in its center. Visitors can explore the hiking trails that cover Tenerife from coast to coast and experience the island’s numerous facets.

Tenerife has many species endemic to the island, animals and plants that only exist here and that are perfectly adapted to its specific climate. One of them is the colorful Teide finch, named after the famous volcano. Another endemic bird is the Island Canary, a feral relative of the Canary, which many people hold as a pet. The colorful male is a yellowish green, whereas the female has a striped belly. The bird’s song is considered very beautiful, so listen closely for its skipping and humming tune, when exploring the island.

Another endemic species is the Wet Canary Lizard, which only populates the islands Tenerife and La Palma, but can be found in great numbers here. From time to time they get all too many and will be considered a plague, hunted with traps and poison, because they can be harm to the harvest. The lizards live on plants and small insects, and won’t say no to pieces of apples fed to them by friendly tourists.

There are almost no mammals on the island, apart from the forest cat that lives around Teide. Rabbits can be found to, although these were brought to the island by settlers from the mainland.

There are plenty of exotic butterflies in Tenerife, due to the island’s abundance of colorful flowers. The Monarch with its red and black wings is exceptionally beautiful and can be easily spotted throughout the island. Watch out for the African Grass Blue, his bright blue wings can be seen even in garden areas of hotels.

These butterflies lead a well-fed life, because of Tenerife’s beautiful flowers. Typical for the island are the strelitzias, also known as birds of paradise, reaching for the sky with its orange blossoms. The poinsettia, or Christmas flower, which in central Europe is a common gift in Christmastime, also grows here in the wild, in big bushes. But just like the many cactuses that can be found all over the island, it was brought here from South America.

When hiking through the North of the island you will find yourself in gigantic woods of Canary Island Pines. In the hotter climate of the south one will see the meaty leafs of plants belonging to the Spurge family, which are especially well adapted to the heat.

One of the most spectacular features of the island’s flora are the Canary Dragon trees. A mighty example of these can be found in Icod d los Vinos in Tenerife’s north. 22 m high and with an estimated weight of 70t, the tree is reputed to be a thousand years old and therefore called El Drago Milenario. Almost all of the endemic species of the island are under nature protection.

Although there are hardly any mammals on the island, there are a lot of them around it. In the 2000 m deep sea gate between Tenerife and La Gomera lives the world’s biggest population of pilot whales. Many Dolphins splash about in Tenerife’s coastal waters aswell.

There are no poisonous or dangerous animals on Tenerife.