Wildlife Corridors

Despite centuries of human habitation, the Loire Valley maintains remarkable biodiversity. The river itself functions as a major wildlife corridor, connecting the Atlantic coast with the continental interior. This aquatic highway supports over 50 fish species, including Atlantic salmon that still attempt their ancestral spawning runs despite numerous obstacles.

The valley's birdlife deserves special mention. Over 200 species have been recorded here, from common kingfishers that flash blue along quiet backwaters to rare black storks that nest in secluded forests. The sandbanks and gravel islands provide crucial breeding grounds for little terns and sand martins, while the riparian forests shelter golden orioles and nightingales whose songs have inspired poets for centuries.

Large mammals, once hunted to near extinction, have made remarkable comebacks. Wild boar roam the forests of Sologne in growing numbers, while roe deer browse forest edges at dawn and dusk. Beavers, extinct in France for centuries, were successfully reintroduced to the Loire in the 1970s and now engineer wetlands that benefit countless other species. Even wolves, absent for over a century, occasionally appear in the valley's eastern reaches, their presence marking the landscape's increasing wildness.