Region
Imereti is defined by karst mountains, wooded valleys, and the Rioni basin. The region has humid habitats characteristic of western Georgia, while more continental environmental signals appear toward the east.
The atlas has 28 species profiles for Imereti: 7 amphibians, 5 snakes, 5 birds, 4 lizards, 2 scorpions, 2 insects, 1 turtle, 1 mammal, and 1 spider. Reptiles make up 10 of them, amphibians 7. The region’s main habitats: Karst mountains; Wooded valleys; Rioni basin.
1 listed species has a high or moderate risk level for people: Caucasus viper (Vipera kaznakovi). Keep your distance from any unidentified snake, never try to catch or handle it, and call 112 after a bite.
A species is listed only when it has an atlas profile and a confirmed record names this administrative unit. This is not the full fauna of Imereti, so an animal missing here may still live in the region. Related region pages: Guria, Samegrelo — Zemo Svaneti, Racha — Lechkhumi — Kvemo Svaneti, and Samtskhe — Javakheti.
News
A 4 mm, colourless, eyeless crustacean from two caves in Upper Imereti turned out to be so distinct that it got a new genus, Imeretioniscus. A second new species, Colchidoniscus fissus, was described from caves in Odishi.
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Mammals
Twenty of the 30 bat species known from Georgia have been found in caves and other underground sites. Yet only about 15% of those sites have been surveyed for bats.
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Never before had so many juvenile sturgeons been caught on the Rioni in one night. In 2026 the team caught more sturgeons than in the previous eight years combined.
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The new area covers the stretch of the Rioni where sturgeon spawn. Researchers consider the river’s ship sturgeon likely the last surviving wild population of the species.
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