Irish Native Species

I want to share some silly info dumps (and maybe some art?) of Irish native specicies here! A lot of our animals and agricultural plants aren't actually 'fully native', but were intoduced through trade in late antiquity - medieval periods. They're not considered invasive however and are part of a healthy ecosystem. Some more were introduced during colonisation, like the deer you see in the Phoenix Park, who were introduced for hunting. These have caused a mix of issues, japanese knotweed is a nightmare to manage and a lack of predators have caused issues with deer. We've lost a few natural predators like wolves, who are fully extinct and have not been reintorduced on a large scale, and the golden eagele, who has been reintroduced to some success! This page won't just focus on endangered species but unfortunately there are a lot of native speciies at risk due to a loss of native woodlands and other factors like farming (2/3 of land in Ireland is agricultural).