The agricultural mosaic of cereal fields, stover and fallow lands provides food, shelter and breeding sites to many animals as insects, birds, mammals, reptiles and even amphibians more tolerant to dry environments.

The birds stand out, including rare species with high conservation status as the great bustard (Otis tarda), the little bustard (Tetrax tetrax), the black-bellied sandgrouse (Pterocles orientalis), the roller (Coracias garrulus), the lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni) and the grandiose Iberian imperial eagle (Aquila adalberti), a species which is endemic to the South of the Iberian Peninsula. These species are known as steppe birds because they are dependent on the steppe agricultural environment (plain, open areas dominated by low vegetation).

Other species of the steppe also deserve mention as the Eurasian stone-curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus), the Northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), the European golden plover (Pluvialis apricaria), the Eurasian skylark (Alauda arvensis), the meadow pipit (Anthus pratensis), the corn bunting (Miliaria calandra), the Thekla lark (Galerida theklae), the greater short-toed lark (Calandrella brachydactyla), the black-eared wheatear (Oenanthe hispanica) and the common pratincole (Glareola pratincola).

In mammals, the hare (Lepus capensis) stands out for its conspicuousness. In the shrub areas there are wild boars (Sus scrofa), European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), Egyptian mongooses (Herpestes ichneumon), badgers (Meles meles), foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and genets (Genetta genetta). The garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus) stands out in the montado, as do the otter (Lutra lutra) in the water courses and the Cabrera’s vole (Microtus cabrerae), the only endemic rodent of the Iberian Peninsula.

The herpetofauna also has some species endemic to the Iberian Peninsula as the Bedriaga’s skink (Chalcides bedriagai), the Iberian midwife toad (Alytes cisternasii) and the Iberian painted frog (Discoglossus galganoi), which are joined by the discrete European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) and the Mediterranean house gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus), both with unfavorable conservation status in Portugal.

In larger water courses as the Ribeira de Cobres and the Ribeira Maria Delgada occur three fish species endemic to the Iberian Peninsula: the Luciobarbus steindachneri, the Iberochondrostoma lemmingii and the Pseudochondrostoma willkommii.

Among the invertebrates, three species of small freshwater crustaceans (large branchiopods) stand out whose occurrence is very restricted in the world. Of these, two are endemic to the Iberian Peninsula, namely the clam shrimp of the species Cyzicus grubei and the shrimp of the species Triops baeticus, besides the fairy shrimp of the species Streptocephalus torvicornis, one of the rarest species to be found in Portugal.