Editing Iceland (section)

====Animals====
[[File:Alopex lagopus IMG 9019.JPG|right|thumb|The [[Arctic fox]] was the only land mammal in Iceland before the arrival of humans.]]

The only native land mammal when humans arrived was the [[Arctic fox]],<ref name="wildlife">{{cite web|url=http://www.iww.is/pages/alife/biglf.html |title=Wildlife |year=2000 |work=Iceland Worldwide |publisher=Iceland Whale Watching |access-date=22 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100414112114/http://www.iww.is/pages/alife/biglf.html |archive-date=14 April 2010 }}</ref> which came to the island at the end of the ice age, walking over the frozen sea. On rare occasions, bats have been carried to the island with the winds, but they are not able to breed there. No native or free-living reptiles or amphibians are on the island.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nat.is/Spendyr/wild_mammals.htm |title=Wild Mammals in Iceland |publisher=Nordic Adventure Travel |access-date=7 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616093010/http://www.nat.is/Spendyr/wild_mammals.htm |archive-date=16 June 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The animals of Iceland include the [[Icelandic sheep]], [[Icelandic cattle|cattle]], [[Icelandic chicken|chickens]], [[Icelandic goat|goats]], the sturdy [[Icelandic horse]], and the [[Icelandic Sheepdog]], all descendants of animals imported by Europeans. Wild mammals include the Arctic fox, [[mink]], mice, rats, rabbits, and [[reindeer]]. [[Polar bears]] occasionally visit the island, travelling from [[Greenland]] on icebergs, but no Icelandic populations exist.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nat.is/Spendyr/polar_bear.htm |title=Polar bears |publisher=Nordic Adventure Travel |access-date=7 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616092940/http://www.nat.is/Spendyr/polar_bear.htm |archive-date=16 June 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In June 2008, two polar bears arrived in the same month.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icenews.is/index.php/2008/06/17/second-polar-bear-killed-in-iceland/ |title=Second polar bear killed in Iceland |date=17 June 2008 |publisher=IceNews |access-date=3 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100927220213/http://www.icenews.is/index.php/2008/06/17/second-polar-bear-killed-in-iceland/ |archive-date=27 September 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Marine mammals]] include the [[grey seal]] (''Halichoerus grypus'') and [[harbour seal]] (''Phoca vitulina'').

Many species of fish live in the ocean waters surrounding Iceland, and the [[fishing industry]] is a major part of Iceland's economy, accounting for roughly half of the country's total exports. Birds, especially seabirds, are an important part of Iceland's animal life. [[Atlantic puffin]]s, [[skua]]s, and [[black-legged kittiwake]]s nest on its sea cliffs.<ref>[[#Wilcox|Wilcox and Latif]], pp. 14–15</ref>

[[Commercial whaling]] is practised intermittently<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amx.is/vidskipti/4381 |title=Hvalveiðiákvörðun stendur í ár |trans-title=Whaling decision stands in years |language=is |publisher=Amx.is |access-date=10 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221071915/http://www.amx.is/vidskipti/4381 |archive-date=21 February 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://skip.vb.is/frettir/nr/12499 |title=Hvalveiðarnar hefjast í júníbyrjun |trans-title=Whaling to begin in June |date=12 March 2009 |publisher=Fiskifréttir |language=is |access-date=22 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722022653/http://skip.vb.is/frettir/nr/12499%3Bjsessionid%3DA52268B9503F643AC74B0BC6C206258E |archive-date=22 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> along with scientific whale hunts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hafro.is/undir_eng.php?ID=15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523085642/http://www.hafro.is/undir_eng.php?ID=15 |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 May 2019 |title=Cetaceans |publisher=Marine Research Institute, Iceland }}</ref> Whale watching has become an important part of Iceland's economy since 1997.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://newsroom.uts.edu.au/news/2012/02/whaling-nations-could-trade-eco-warriors-for-eco-tourists |title=Whaling nations could trade eco warriors for eco tourists |publisher=[[University of Technology, Sydney]] |date=2 February 2012 |access-date=11 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120407165122/http://newsroom.uts.edu.au/news/2012/02/whaling-nations-could-trade-eco-warriors-for-eco-tourists |archive-date=7 April 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Around 1,300 species of insects are known in Iceland. This is low compared with other countries (over one million species have been described worldwide). Iceland is essentially free of [[mosquitoes]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://visindavefur.hi.is/svar.php?id=2166 |title=Vísindavefurinn: Af hverju lifa ekki moskítóflugur á Íslandi, fyrst þær geta lifað báðum megin á Grænlandi? |language=Is |publisher=Visindavefur.hi.is |access-date=15 October 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130802162121/http://visindavefur.hi.is/svar.php?id=2166 |archive-date=2 August 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>