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Travel guide

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to join <strong>guide</strong>d tours into the abandoned tunnels and wells, as well as visit<br />

the rooms housing the old machinery. The Sardinian fauna is rich in species<br />

of particular interest, which are uncommon and, often, either extinct or<br />

rare in other European regions. Amongst the latter are several endemisms,<br />

i.e. species either with a limited distributional area (mostly Sardinia and<br />

Corsica) or exclusive to Sardinia. Amongst the mammals, the most typical<br />

of the Sardinian fauna is the Mouflon, ancestor of the domestic sheep,<br />

with which it bears a close resemblance. It lives in the mountains of the<br />

central area of the Island, amidst woodlands of yews and on the<br />

mountainous grasslands. It is recognisable for the white saddle on its back,<br />

which stands out of the thick russet fleece, and for the spiralled horns of<br />

the males. Some of the woodlands of Sardinia are inhabited by the<br />

Sardinian deer, currently found again in increasing numbers after risking<br />

extinction as a result of poaching. Noteworthy is also the Giara pony, living<br />

in the wild on the namesake basalt mesas of central Sardinia. Of special<br />

interest is also the Albino donkey found in the National Park of the Asinara<br />

and that gives name to the island itself.The Sardinian wild cat belongs to a<br />

subspecies of the European wild cat distributed throughout northern<br />

Africa, Corsica and Sardinia. It is a mammal that preys upon small rodents,<br />

Mouflon on the<br />

buttresses of<br />

Supramonte<br />

rabbits, birds and amphibians, usually hunting at night. It resembles a<br />

domestic cat, with which it can occasionally crossbreed. The Gray bigeared<br />

bat is endemic to Sardinia (i.e. only found on the Island) and was<br />

discovered only in 2002. Its discovery is especially relevant given that this is<br />

the only endemic mammal not only to Sardinia but also to Italy. The name<br />

derives from its large ears. Amongst the birds of prey is the Queen’s<br />

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