The short-horned cow of the Cretan breed today has many cows mainly in the Drakona area of the White Mountains and until recently was considered almost extinct..

The Cretan stone marten (scient. Martes foina bunites) is a nice mammal, arboreous, night owl, carnivorous and fruit-eater that lives alone (except for the mating season) in rock fissures, in tree hollows, in raptors’ abandoned nests, in desert underground galleries, in sparse forests, in bushy places and in gorges.

The Cretan least weasel (mustela nivalis galinthias) is an endemic subspecies of the common weasel, which is met all over the island. Other names of the animal is dwarf, pygmy or mouse weasel. Cretans also call it kalogiannou or kalogynekari (meaning nun) due to its white-striped chest, making it look like a nun.

The badger of Crete or arcalos (scient. Meles meles arcalus) is an endemic subspecies of the common badger. It is a carnivorous mammal resembling a bear with short legs and relatively long body (70-95 centimeters) and short tail (15 centimeters), while it can weight up 20 kilos.

Hedgehogs are commonly met animals on the island of Crete, belonging to two different species, Erinaceus concolor and Erinaceus roumanicus. Unfortunately, they are considered a delicacy for some, and there several cases in Crete when these animals are eaten (mainly by Roma people). Lastly, the hedgehogs are considered sacred animals by the Greek Church because of the characteristic manner of mating, reminiscent of humans. Indeed, sometimes they mate face to face so as to avoid the spines on their back.

The Cretan Hound or Cretan Tracer is the oldest hunting breed of dog in Europe, with more than 4000 years of history on the island of Crete. It is believed to originate from the ancient breed of hound Basentzi in Egypt, introduced to the island’s particular conditions. By the middle of the last century, only a few purebred dogs were remaining, mostly in east Crete, but today the situation has improved considerably.

The edible dormouse (Glis glis argenteus), squirrel tailed dormouse, myoxus or fat dormouse of Crete is a subspecies of the common dormouse species, met throughout Europe and western Asia. Crete is the southernmost point where we meet this species, with the largest population being limited in Samaria National Park and some individuals being reported in Psiloritis Mount.

The Cretan white-toothed shrew (scient. Crocidura zimmermanni) is the only endemic mammal in Greece, found only in Crete, but it is displaced by the introduced lesser white-teethed shrew (scient. Crocidura suaveolens). Moreover, the smallest mammal of the world, the Etruscan shrew, is the third species of shrew met in Crete.

The Cretan spiny mouse (scient. Acomys minous) a threatened species of mouse endemic to Crete and Africa. It is named so, after the coarse, stiff hairs on its back and tail.

Hare (scient. Lepus europaeus) is one of the most widespread mammals throughout Europe, which also exists in large numbers throughout the island of Crete. It's a herbivorous mammal whose length can reach 55 centimeters and whose weight is approximately 2-3 kilos. Its color is hazelnut-grey to grey brown. It has long ears, its hind legs are longer than the front ones and its pads are covered with a thick coat leaving a characteristic trace on the snow.

The European rabbit (scient. Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a closely related species to hare, which has been introduced on the island of Crete by humans (many confuse that with hare). Despite the many predators on Crete, the rabbit reproduced rapidly and is now spread across the island of Crete and several smaller islets around it.

Rodents is the second largest group of mammals in Crete, after bats. Apart from the hedgehogs, the dormice, the Cretan spiny mice, which have beed described in different articles, Crete hosts the countryside wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus), the broad-toothed field mice (Apodemus mystacinus), the cityside house mice (Mus musculus), the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) and the black rat (Rattus rattus). Let’s look at them.

Only a few Greeks know that in Greece there are whales, even though Aristotle had recorded their existence. It is noteworthy that south Crete is the only place in the world where one can admire the whales all over the year and is the point where they are believed to reproduce.

The fin whale (scient. Balaenoptera physalus), finback whale, razorback, or common rorqual is the second largest mammal in the world, after the blue whale. In Greece there are fin whales, some of which have been observed occasionally in the deep waters of south Crete. The number of fin whales in the Greek waters has not been estimated, but it is estimated at 2000 individuals throughout the Mediterranean.

The common minke whale (scient. Balaenoptera acutorostrata) is a small whale species, worldwide distributed, which is found quite often in the seas of the western Mediterranean Sea and less in Greek and Cretan Seas.

The Common Bottlenose Dolphin (scient. Tursiops truncates) is a common species in Greek waters, widespread throughout the world. It is often found near the coasts of Crete, even very close to the shore, forming groups of up to 100 individuals. On the other hand, meeting that in the open sea is very rare. It is named bottlenose due to the animal having a short rounded snout that looks like a bottle.

Risso’s dolphin (scient. Grampus griseus) is a species of dolphin that lives in all oceans of the world. This species has relatively small populations in all the Greek seas, with the seas of Crete being among them (mainly sea north of Crete).

The common short-beaked dolphin (scient. Delphinus delphis) was once the most common dolphin species in Greece, but unfortunately it is nowadays threatened with extinction. Indeed, the name “common” was firstly given by Aristotle in ancient times, due to its abundance in Greek Seas. Today it lives mainly in the Ionian Sea and is rarely found in Crete.

The striped dolphin (scient. Stenella coeruleoalba) is the most common species of dolphin in Greek waters. It is usully found far from the coasts, in the open Aegean and Ionian Sea, south of Crete or close to the coasts if the water is very deep. It lives in flocks of 50-100 individuals, and often coexists with other dolphins, such as the Common dolphin and Risso’s dolphin.

Cuvier's Beaked Whale (scient. Ziphius cavirostris) is a large whale, which is found in almost all seas of the world. They have been observed many times in several places of Greece, with Crete being one of them.