Due to its large areas of uninhabited forest, low levels of tourism and remote high alpine zones Georgia has preserved more species of animal than any country in Europe. This includes a number of endemic species - of which perhaps the most notable is the Caucasian tur, a Related to the European Ibex it comes in two version, eastern and western. The western Capra Caucasica is unique for its splendid laterally curved horns - representations of which are found in ancient Colchean jewellery and pottery. Besides this Georgia has many animals now long departed from western Europe. It has brown bear, lynx, wild boar, bezoar goats, chamois, wolves, jackal, wild cats, a number of endemic butterflies, lizards, snakes and numerous tortoises. Recently the critically endangered Anatolian Leopard has been caught on remote cameras in the Vashlovani Protected Areas - although it has yet to be seen by naked eye.

The goitered gazelles can be found in eastern Georgia and around Tbilisi is the endangered dwarf shrew (if you can imagine any mammal quite that small). Two species of wild ox, both indigenous to the Caucasus, live in the alpine and semi alpine zones. Western Georgia is home to the mole, stone marten, horseshoe bat, hedgehog, grizzly bear, lynx, and the extraordinary Caucasian squirrel.

The Black Sea is home to both the common and the bottle-nosed dolphin as well as the porpoise, and fish there include beluga, ray, shark, sturgeon, black sea salmon, herring, dogfish, khamsa, flounder and swordfish. Needless to say, the fishing here is excellent, whether you like river trout or deep-sea expeditions.