More than a third of Thuringia's land area is covered with forest. In the west of the Free State lies the Thuringian Forest, a low mountain range almost 1,000 metres high that stretches from the Werra in the northwest to the Franconian Forest in the southeast. Not only squirrels and raccoons feel at home in the dense, partly pristine forests. The rare black storks have also reestablished themselves here. Red kites build their nests in the canopies, and the shy wildcat also finds sufficient cover.