{"id":503590,"date":"2025-10-21T14:23:39","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T11:23:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/?p=503590"},"modified":"2025-10-21T14:23:53","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T11:23:53","slug":"foxes-hedgehogs-and-hawks-the-wild-animals-living-in-the-southern-suburbs-of-athens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/interviews\/foxes-hedgehogs-and-hawks-the-wild-animals-living-in-the-southern-suburbs-of-athens\/","title":{"rendered":"Foxes, hedgehogs, and hawks: The wild animals living in the Southern Suburbs of Athens"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we talk about wildlife, most people think of forests, mountains, and remote landscapes. Rarely do we think of the city. Yet the urban landscape around us is full of creatures that live quietly beside us: from birds nesting on rooftops to foxes wandering through neighborhoods, and from bats flying around streetlights to hedgehogs moving through parks. They are our unseen cohabitants, part of the same everyday life we seldom notice.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, we visited ANIMA\u2019s First Aid Station, run by the Hellenic Wildlife Protection and Rehabilitation Association, in Kallithea. The space feels like a small sanctuary: rows of cages with recovering birds, hedgehogs curled up in corners, and even animals that roam freely, such as two barn owls\u2014the nocturnal, owl-like birds with their characteristic heart-shaped white faces. All of them had arrived there from different neighborhoods of Athens, reminding us that wildlife is not far away but lives all around us.<\/p>\n

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There we met Maria Ganoti, president of ANIMA<\/a>, with whom we talked about this other side of the city: about the animals that have learned to survive and adapt alongside us, about how we often ignore their presence, about municipalities that remain unprepared to include wildlife in their policies, and about how much poorer our daily life becomes when we forget that we share the same space with them.<\/p>\n

Our unseen cohabitants in the city<\/h2>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of wild animals in cities in general, and in Athens in particular,\u201d says Maria Ganoti. \u201cCities provide safety because there are fewer predators, while buildings offer nesting spaces. It\u2019s no coincidence that over 170 bird species have been recorded in Athens.\u201d As she explains, wild animals don\u2019t just use parks and groves but also the built environment itself: they nest on rooftops and in courtyards, slip into basements or abandoned houses, and thus manage to survive alongside us\u2014even snakes<\/strong>, most of which are completely harmless to humans.<\/p>\n

In the Southern Suburbs of Athens, this picture is even more striking, as two worlds converge: the slopes of Mount Hymettus and the streams that flow toward the sea. In the Pikrodafni stream and at the mouth of the Ilissos River, one can find kingfishers, water turtles, frogs<\/strong>, and many migratory birds, especially in spring and autumn. \u201cThe Pikrodafni stream is a precious corridor,\u201d notes Ganoti, \u201cbecause every year it hosts a great variety of species, even rare ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

Within the neighborhoods themselves, wildlife is equally abundant. In Voula and Vari, many foxes<\/strong> live\u2014so many, in fact, that, as ANIMA\u2019s president points out, \u201cwe\u2019re talking about a phenomenon of urbanization. There are foxes even on the Acropolis.\u201d On the Pan Hill in Alimos, not only foxes but also hedgehogs<\/strong> find refuge, while in the same municipality, hoopoes<\/strong> and small herons<\/strong> are often seen falling exhausted into yards. In Ilioupoli and Argyroupoli, hawks<\/strong> nest on apartment buildings, fully adapted to city life.<\/p>\n

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Beyond that, our more \u201ceveryday\u201d cohabitants are swallows, swifts, and blackbirds<\/strong>, which build nests on rooftops. Bats<\/strong> fly around streetlights hunting insects, while turtles<\/strong> often appear in yards and parks. \u201cThese turtles,\u201d says Ganoti, \u201chave in most cases been placed there by people\u2014well-intentioned, but wrong, because they remove them from their natural habitat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wildlife also follows its own seasonal cycle. In summer, swallows, swifts, and small birds like goldfinches, chaffinches, <\/strong>and greenfinches<\/strong> dominate, while in winter, robins<\/strong> and chiffchaffs<\/strong> appear. \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to be able to recognize the animals around you,\u201d says ANIMA\u2019s president. \u201cIt enriches our world and makes it more beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In recent years, new species have joined this mosaic. Gulls<\/strong> and magpies<\/strong> \u201cnow nest on the rooftops of apartment buildings not only in the coastal suburbs but even in downtown Athens. Think that in Omonia there are many gull nests,\u201d says Ganoti. The reason, she explains, lies in our own habits: landfills and garbage within the cities provide an inexhaustible source of food. \u201cThe rocky islets of the Saronic Gulf, where they used to nest, are no longer enough. So gulls have colonized the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

And of course, parrots<\/strong>, which have gone from rare to everyday. \u201cAt first we had one species, now we have two and are heading for three,\u201d says Ganoti. The urban legends are false\u2014\u201cthat, for example, a truck carrying them overturned and the city filled with parrots.\u201d Instead, their populations have established themselves in many European cities. The green parrots of Athens, which once escaped from cages, have adapted easily and feed on olives and pistachios. \u201cA few years ago, it was extremely rare to see a parrot, and now the city is full of them,\u201d she notes, adding that every summer many chicks that fall from their nests end up at ANIMA.<\/p>\n

Although it doesn\u2019t concern the southern suburbs, another animal has made its presence felt in Attica in recent years: the wild boar<\/strong>. It appears mainly near the northern mountain ranges of Athens, in areas like Chalandri, Ekali, and Dionysos. \u201cTheir population has increased a lot,\u201d explains Ganoti, \u201cbecause at some point they interbred with domestic pigs and began producing larger litters, even twice a year.\u201d She also points out that their presence can be dangerous, especially when females with young feel threatened.<\/p>\n

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Why do foxes come down from the mountain into the city?<\/h2>\n

The presence of wild animals within the urban fabric can be due to several reasons. One of them is population growth: \u201cFor foxes, for example, the mountain is not enough for all of them,\u201d explains Ganoti. She notes that foxes are extremely adaptable and intelligent animals, while at the same time, the city has expanded toward the mountain, bringing human presence closer to them. In addition, \u201cthere are many animal lovers in the city who leave food out for strays\u2014so why wouldn\u2019t foxes take advantage of that?\u201d<\/p>\n

They also find shelter in old basements or abandoned buildings, which they use as they would burrows in the wild to raise their young. Another key factor is the lack of food in nature due to drought and climate change, which have altered traditional ecosystems.<\/p>\n

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Wildlife is absent from municipal policies<\/h2>\n

Despite the presence of so many species within the city, local authorities seem to ignore this reality in their planning. \u201cMunicipalities have not at all incorporated the fact that there is wildlife in the city into their policies. They are completely unaware of it,\u201d says Maria Ganoti, citing as an example the pruning of trees<\/strong>, which often takes place in spring\u2014the very season when nests are full of chicks.<\/p>\n

As she explains, municipalities tend to consider \u201curban fauna\u201d as referring only to companion animals: dogs and cats. \u201cThey don\u2019t even consider as urban fauna the domestic ducks, chickens, or even hamsters that people throw into the trash\u2014animals that we end up having to collect,\u201d she notes. \u201cFor most municipalities, the city consists of greenery, dogs, and cats.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also highlights issues in green-space management. There is, she says, a trend toward excessive clearing of vegetation out of fear of fires\u2014something that, when done during the flowering season, deprives insects like bees and butterflies of food and shelter. \u201cAbroad, they leave patches of flowers in parks so pollinators can gather. There are strict rules about when and how much a tree can be pruned. Here, you often see only a stump left behind,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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Maria Ganoti believes municipalities need better information and collaboration with specialists so they know when and how to intervene. \u201cI keep hoping that one municipality will say, \u2018come tell us what can be done.\u2019<\/strong> So far, none have. Only we have approached them.\u201d<\/p>\n

She stresses that the presence of wildlife is not only an environmental issue but one that directly affects our well-being. \u201cWhat I\u2019m saying is not romantic. It\u2019s proven through psychometric studies. Our everyday life is better when we see life around us\u2014when we hear blackbirds and other birds in the morning, when we walk down streets lined with green trees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Municipal authorities, she adds, \u201cmust realize how important it is for their residents that these animals remain in the city and must work to ensure there are more birds, butterflies, and bees around us. To achieve this, they can seek advice from experts who can show them how to enhance biodiversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Our mistakes in dealing with wildlife<\/h2>\n

Ganoti emphasizes the frequent mistakes people make when encountering animals in the city. One of them involves swallow nests: \u201cOne of our great frustrations is that people go and destroy swallow nests<\/strong> because they dirty the balcony. I call this a perversion\u2014a perversion of the traditional relationship humans had with swallows, which they loved and welcomed when they arrived.\u201d As she explains, there are simple ways to prevent the mess without destroying the nests.<\/p>\n

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Many people also panic when they see an animal, expecting someone \u201cin charge\u201d to come remove it. \u201cPeople left their villages for the city and assumed they left behind everything related to nature. When they see something that belongs to that world, they feel insecure. These are psychological issues,\u201d notes Ganoti. ANIMA\u2019s goal, she says, is to help citizens reconcile with the presence of wildlife and become part of the solution: to know, for instance, how to safely transport an injured bird to the first aid station. \u201cWhat we need to understand is that wildlife lives alongside us and, with very few exceptions, we have nothing to fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

People are often particularly afraid of snakes<\/strong>, several of which appear in the southern suburbs. \u201cAuthorities often call us because they\u2019ve seen a four-lined snake or a tree snake\u2014completely harmless animals,\u201d says Ganoti. She stresses that snakes don\u2019t move around much and often stay in the same area for many years. \u201cIf you see a two-meter-long snake, it may have lived there for 15 years. It may have accidentally come out, maybe it got scared. People see it and chaos breaks out!\u201d<\/p>\n

Education is therefore needed so that everyone can distinguish the viper\u2014which is indeed dangerous\u2014from all the other harmless species. \u201cThis fear is deeply rooted within us, passed down from generation to generation, which is why it\u2019s hard to eradicate.\u201d There are also many lizards in the city, all completely harmless.<\/p>\n

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Ultimately, the presence of all these animals is more than natural\u2014it is a sign of health for the urban environment itself. \u201cGenerally, when an ecosystem has great diversity, it means it\u2019s healthy. If it doesn\u2019t, it means it\u2019s highly polluted. So having many animals around us is a sign of health.\u201d<\/p>\n

What to do if you find an injured or orphaned animal<\/h2>\n

If you find an animal, your first step is to call ANIMA. They will answer immediately, ask you to describe what you found, where you are, and usually to send a photo. This allows the organization\u2019s team to give you the right instructions on what to do until the animal reaches them.<\/p>\n

In any case, the first step is not to offer food. As Ganoti explains, if you find, for example, a bird<\/strong> that has hit a window or wall, it doesn\u2019t need food right then. What really helps is placing it in a dark cardboard box (not a birdcage), with air holes and paper, a towel, or newspaper for bedding so it can calm down. Our priority should be quiet and maybe a little water\u2014for example, a few drops on the bird\u2019s beak.<\/p>\n

If you find a fox<\/strong>, handling is more complex. As Ganoti explains, if it\u2019s injured, ANIMA staff usually go on-site to help. Often the calls concern sick foxes with mange\u2014quite common incidents in the southern suburbs. But if the animal is lively, running and jumping, it cannot be caught. If it regularly approaches a spot to feed, experts can safely guide you, giving instructions and precise dosages to place medicine in the food.<\/p>\n

Hedgehogs<\/strong> with mange also frequently arrive at ANIMA. Depending on the case and age, the team advises citizens on what to do: sometimes, if it\u2019s not serious, it\u2019s enough to leave the animal where it was found. Similarly, turtles often end up trapped in yards and gardens, where they sometimes multiply. But that\u2019s not their natural environment. As Ganoti stresses, turtles should be returned to nature. If someone finds turtles in their garden, they can collect and relocate them to a countryside area or the wild\u2014especially now, during the rainy season until November, when the soil is ideal. That way, the animal can continue its life in the right ecosystem.<\/p>\n

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Nature reborn even after fire<\/h2>\n

The wildfires that strike Greece every summer\u2014and have also marked parts of Southeast Attica, such as this year in the Municipality of Saronikos or three years ago in the Panorama area of Voula\u2014have a direct impact on wildlife. \u201cIn such cases, the biggest issue is with turtles. They come to us burned. These are difficult cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

But nature has an impressive ability to recover, even if it means that balances shift: \u201cA burned area, with the first rain, sprouts grass. Turtles can live there easily. When large trees are gone, the animals that lived there change. There may be fewer birds, but species that benefit from grass or can hunt better in open space may appear.\u201d<\/p>\n

With thirty years of experience in the treatment and rehabilitation of wild animals, Maria Ganoti considers wildfires \u201ctragic more for people than for nature.\u201d Nature, she insists, \u201cif you leave it alone, will be reborn.\u201d<\/p>\n

The presence of wildlife in the city is not an exception but the rule. Animals adapt, find ways to live alongside us, and make use of the spaces we create. Whether we ignore them, fear them, or learn to coexist with them is a matter of awareness, attitude, and choice. As ANIMA\u2019s president says, the most important thing is not to destroy what already exists. Because every tree, every nest, every small animal we encounter around us is a sign of a city that is healthier, more humane, and ultimately more alive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we talk about wildlife, most people think of forests, mountains, and remote landscapes. Rarely do we think of the city. Yet the urban landscape around us is full of creatures that live quietly beside us: from birds nesting on rooftops to foxes wandering through neighborhoods, and from bats flying around streetlights to hedgehogs moving […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":503593,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7119],"tags":[],"real_estate_agency":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503590"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503590"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":503595,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503590\/revisions\/503595"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503590"},{"taxonomy":"real_estate_agency","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/real_estate_agency?post=503590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}