While famous as one of the great cultural and historic centres of Europe, Italy is also a hotspot for biodiversity and endemic species, with 23 national parks and 22 marine nature reserves. A grand total of 8 Wild Wonders missions headed for Italy, focussing on the wonderful wildflowers and forests of the southern national parks - Gargano, Pollino and Monti Sibillini, the spectacular peaks of the Alps and Dolomites with their chamois and ibex populations in the Gran Paradiso National Park, and the wild wonders of Sardinia (mouflon) and Sicily and the Aoelian Islands (Etna and Stromboli volancos). These missions were undertaken by Sandra Bartocha and Claudia Mueller (Germany), Erlend Haarberg (Norway), Olivier Grunewald (France), Ingo Arndt and Frank Krahmer (Germany).

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