Thanks to the protection of the area in the last few years, the wild fauna of the Apuan Alps has noticeably increased in number of individuals and of species.

A tangible sign of this new trend is the return of the golden eagle, which now nests regularly here. Among the daytime raptors there are peregrine falcons, kestrels and buzzards, while at night the short-eared owl, the barn owl, the little owl and the tawny owl are often heard even in the surrounding hills.

Among the carrion eaters are the majestic raven and, at high altitude, the alpine chough and the rarer chough which has become the symbol of the Park.

Other interesting resident species are the alpine accentor, the black redstart and the red-legged partridge. Others, like the wryneck, the cuckoo, the wallcreeper or the sand-martin, are migrants. Finches and tits are very numerous, and green and greater-spotted woodpeckers are widespread in mature woods.

The mammals are represented here by some species of bats, by rodents such as the dormouse, the red squirrel and the hazel mouse, by the hare, the roe deer and the wild boar. Predators are represented by the fox, the weasel, the beech marten, the polecat, the pine marten and the omnivorous badger.

The robust and agile mouflon sheep has been introduced but has adapted itself perfectly to the Apuan habitat and is often seen. Among the rarities, of special interest is the snow vole, a small rodent which arrived during the last glaciations.

In the streams, trout and amphibians are common. Besides the fire salamander, the Apuan alpine newt and the spectacled salamander, an endemic species of the Appennines which migrated to the Apuan Alps in the post-glacial period, are worthy of note.

Other rarities are represented by the cave salamander and an insect, Nebria apuana, which can only be found in a restricted geographical area.