Tethys Research Institute north-western Mediterranean, within the waters of the Pelagos Sanctuary for Mediterranean Marine Mammals. This ongoing project focuses on the ecology and conservation of the cetacean fauna occurring in the area, which includes the fin whale ("Balaenoptera physalus"), the sperm whale ("Physeter macrocephalus"), the long-finned pilot whale ("Globicephala melas"), the Risso’s dolphin ("Grampus griseus"), the Cuvier's beaked whale ("Ziphius cavirostris"), the striped dolphin ("Stenella coeruleoalba"), the common bottlenose dolphin and, to a lesser extent, the short-beaked common dolphin ("Delphinus delphis"). The study area extends over about 24,000 km encompassing coastal, slope and deep pelagic waters between continental Italy, France and the
Wildlife of Libya of now, very few animals live in the area, like the striped hyenas ("Hyaena hyaena"), fennec fox, gazelles, wildcats and golden wolves. The cheetah is now extinct from the area. Reptiles and rodents are common in the sands of the desert; adder and krait are among the snakes reported. Red shrimp are reported from the Ubari Lakes in the Fezan area. The faunal species recorded include "Canis anthus", "Vulpes vulpes", "Genetta genetta", "Felis libyca", "Hystrix cristata", "Delphinus delphis" and "Tursiops truncatus". Mammals and reptiles found in Libya which are on the Red List of IUCN, are: Grobben's gerbil, the Alexandrian