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Created in 1979, Mercantour National Park lies next to Argentera Park in Italy, with which it shares a 33-kilometre border. Since 1987, moreover, the two parks have been working together to preserve species such as the mouflon, the ibex and the chamois. Wolves also benefit tremendously from this location since, after surviving in Italy, they reappeared on French territory in thé valleys of Vésubie and Tinée in 1992. Scientists are studying their behaviour in order to restore these animais which consume and regulate the wild animal population and are not dangerous for humans. Many birds of prey enjoy Mercantour Park and stay on there. Thus, the bearded vulture lives at an altitude of between 1,000 and 2,000 mètres. Together, the males and females prepare the eyrie they have chosen for nesting and participate in raising their young. Unlike necrophagous birds like kites and vultures, these birds of prey essentially live on bones which they break with great ingenuity, sometimes renewing their throws twenty times, if need be, in order to get the desired fragments. Mercantour Park, located in thé Alpes-Maritimes and Hautes-Provence departments, enjoys a climate favouring varied plant life. Out of the 4,200 plant species listed in France, the park alone offers 2,000 of them, including sixty that are specific to this area of the Alps. From an altitude of 490 to 3,143 metres, depending on thé climate, visitors find pine and fir trees, olive trees, rhododendron and gentian, not to mention the magnificent many-flowered saxifrage, growing out of the rocky ridges and sharp cliffs. The flower, which is a rare, endangered species, has become the symbol of Mercantour. Covering 68,5000 ha. of park land and an outlying area of 145,400 ha., the national park offers an imposing panorama composed of peaks, valleys, Iakes, cirques and deep gorges, leaving nature-lovers dazzled in the face of such force and beauty. To complete the spectacle, at above 2,600 metres, the Valleys of Marvels lies spread out over 4,000 ha., filled with more than 100,000 rock engravings from the bronze age. These petroglyphs have made the Mount Bégo region a major prehistoric centre which should always be trampled with great respect.
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