There are about 500 taxons of cave-dwelling animals living permanently or temporarily in caves. Several of them can only be found in the caves of the Aggtelek Karst. Altogether there are 39 bat species in Europe, 28 of them can be found in the karst (though not every bat species are cave-dwelling).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An outstanding richness of species is characteristic to the area: about 8000 animal species can be observed.

Due to the geological location of the area, both species characteristic to high mountains, european lynx (Lynx lynx)  eurasian pygmy owl Glaucidium passerinum, Bielzia coerulans) and species preferring dry, warm habitats  matriarchal katydid (Saga pedo, rock bunting (Emberiza cia) can be seen. Because of the variable habitats, an extremely rich butterfly fauna could have also been evolved.