Paphos Times, January 2007, Page 8

With its approximately 1,800 species of flowering plants, Cyprus is an extremely interesting place for nature lovers and has all the attributes which makes it a botanist's paradise.

Being an island, it is sufficiently isolated to allow the evolution of a strong endemic flowering element.  At the same time being surrounded by big continents, it incorporates botanological elements of the neighbouring land masses.

About 8% of the indigenous plants of the island, 125 different species and subspecies, are endemic.  The island's great variety of habitats, attributed to a varied microclimate and geology, is the main reason which contributed to this high number of endemics.

The present day fauna of Cyprus includes some seven species of land mammals, 26 species of amphibians and reptiles, 357 species of birds, a great variety of insects and mites, while the coastal waters of the island give shelter to 197 fish species and various species of crabs, sponges and echinodermata.

The largest wild animal that still lives on the island is the Cyprus moufflon (Ovis orientalis ophion), a rare type of wild sheep that can only be found in Cyprus. 

Snakes are comatose in the heat of high summer and spend the winter in hibernation and are without exception, frightened of human beings and only attack to defend themselves.  Most snakes on the island are non-venomous.  There are six types of snakes in Cyprus, of which three are poisonous: only one of these, the blunt-nosed viper can be dangerous to man.  The other two poisonous snakes on the island are the Slender Cat snake and the Montpellier snake.

From the numerous wild birds on Cyprus, birds of prey are the most fascinating and amongst them the Eleonora's Falcon (Falco eleonorae) and the Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca) are the jewels in the crown.  Our sea creatures include seals and turtles, though unfortunately the Monk seal no longer breeds in the coastal sea caves of the island.  On the other hand, two marine turtles, the Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) have been found to breed regularly on the island's sandy beaches.