The Nymphenburg Park with its diverse landscape elements offers, in addition to its cultural inheritance and recreational function, a habitat for many plant and animal species. Seventeen species of mammals and 175 species of birds have been identified. It derives special value from the large size and the original habitat stratification. The pristine mixed woodlands and the many very old trees are also worth mentioning. Particularly valuable is the coarse woody debris that provides nutrient cycling nesting grounds and microhabitats for invertebrates and deadwood inhabitants. Deer have been living in the park since it was a royal hunting ground. Other mammals include the fox, rabbits and a larger population of the European polecat. Noctule bats and common pipistrelle live in the park, the Daubenton's bat was sporadically detected and the Nathusius's pipistrelle is suspected as a guest. Among the breeding birds, the Eurasian hobby, the Eurasian sparrowhawk, the common kingfisher, the European pied flycatcher and the wood warbler are particularly noteworthy. The park is an important stop for migratory birds or as winter habitat. The red-crested pochard, for example, (threatened with extinction in Bavaria) appears during the winter. Nearly every year Bohemian waxwings overwinter in the Nymphenburg Park. In unusually hard winters, bird species from northern and north-eastern Europe migrate to southern Bavaria with many thousands of specimens. Nymphenburg Park is traditionally their most important winter quarter. The very rare hermit beetle lives in and on the park trees. Numerous butterfly species can be found on calcareous grasslands, such as meadow brown, silver-washed fritillary, common brimstone, orange tip and purple emperor. The "Kugelweiher" pond in the north of the park is home to common toads and frogs, the grass snake and several dragonfly species, including the common winter damselfly. In contrast to its layout, the palace park is now completely surrounded by urban areas. A biological exchange with populations outside, apart from birds, robust insects and some other highly mobile species, is hardly possible. The Nymphenburg Canal to the east and the line of sight to Blutenburg Castle in the west offer only narrow connections that are highly disturbed in their ecological function. The "Kapuzinerhölzl" forest that adjoins the park to the north is isolated with it.