Aside from birds, Bulgaria's fauna includes most of the Balkan and Mediterranean reptiles (over fifty species) and mammals . Mountainous areas are the habitat of bears, boars, wolves, wild cats, deer, foxes and badgers, while jackals can be found in the Strandzha, and otters and coypu in the coastal wetlands. However they are all pretty reclusive, so you shouldn't expect to see too much in the course of walking in these areas - aside from butterflies and moths, of which Bulgaria boasts some 1100 species. Of more recherché interest are the 75 species of cave fauna , including eight kinds of bats.

Bulgaria's flora is extremely diverse due to the three types of climate (continental, Mediterranean and steppe) within its borders. Almost a third of the country is covered in trees , with conifers (Corsican, Scots, Macedonian and white pine, fir, spruce and juniper) predominating in the high mountains of the Pirin, Rila and western Rhodopes, and deciduous trees (oak, beech, hornbeam, elm, ash, hazel and lime) in the Stara Planina, Sredna Gora and Strandzha. The Rila, Pirin and Rhodopes are especially rich in wildflowers, herbs and fungi , including some species that became extinct elsewhere in Europe centuries ago and others that are unique to Bulgaria, such as Astragalus physocalyx, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Haberlea rhodopensis, Prunus laurocerasus, Ramondia sorbica, Rheum rhaponticum and Rhododendron ponticum .

If geology is your passion, Bulgaria is great for rock formations and minerals . The Pirin range has some spectacular glacial and karstic features, while the Rhodopes abound in odd rock formations such as the Miraculous Bridges, the Stone Wedding and others in the Kârdzhali region; fantastic caves like the Devil's Throat near Trigrad; and all kinds of gemstones and crystals. In northern Bulgaria the finest rockscapes are at Belogradchik, Vratsa, the Iskâr Gorge and outside Sliven.