阿蘇の動物たち
阿蘇カルデラの固有の環境は、多くの動物の生息地となっています。阿蘇には1600種の植物があり、草原には600種が自生しています。草原は、多くの昆虫、蝶、鳥、哺乳類を引き寄せるユニークな生態系の基礎を作り出しています。
ウサギ、キツネ、アライグマ、シカ、イタチ、イノシシ、タヌキなどのような動物は、阿蘇草原に生息しています。熊本県では約300種の鳥が記録されており、半分が阿蘇の草原に生息しています。ホオジロ、ウグイス、オオジシギなど、小さな鳥のほか、草原の小さな哺乳類を餌食にしているハイタカ、ノスリ、コミミズクなど、数多くの猛禽類も見られます。
Animals of Aso
The unique environment of the Aso Caldera provides vital habitat for many animals. It is estimated that there are some 1,600 plants species in Aso, with about 600 of them found in the grasslands. This forms the basis of an ecosystem that attracts a wide variety of insects, butterflies, birds, and mammals.
Hares, foxes, raccoons, deer, weasels, wild boar, and badgers, all live in the Aso grasslands. About 300 species of birds have been recorded in Kumamoto Prefecture, half of them being found in the grasslands of Aso. Smaller birds such as buntings (Emberiza cioides), fan-tailed warblers (Cisticola juncidis), and Latham’s snipes (Gallinago hardwickii) can be observed, as well as several raptors including the Japanese sparrowhawk (Accipiter gularis), the common buzzard (Buteo buteo), and the short-eared owl (Asio flammeus), which prey on small mammals in the grasslands.
