Most of the animal life in Plitvice consists of microorganisms, invertebrates and parasites. The most dominate mammals are rodents, rabbits, wolves, foxes, skunks, weasels, otters, badgers, martens, lynx, wild boars, deer's, fallow deer's and brown bears.
There are very few fish species in Plitvice lakes. These include trout, chub, roach, pijor, klen and crvenperka. Not all lakes of Plitvice are suitable for trouts to feed and breed. The most suitable lake is Proscansko lake, which is rich with plankton and crabs, which trouts eat. Pijor is also favorite food of trouts.
Amphibians are often found in Plitvice. The most known are newt, aquarius and frogs. The largest frog of this area is the brown frog, hiding in woods and wet areas of the National park.
Most often seen reptiles in Plitvice lakes are lizards, snakes and turtles. The largest lizard of this area is the green lizard. The most common snakes are fish snakes, copperheads and gambols.
There are around 140 species of birds. The most commonly seen birds are woodpeckers, capercaillies, black storks, tits, owls, ducks, eagles and hawks.