Foča – The participants of the bio speleological expedition in Foča, organized by the local Speleological Association “Vučja stopa” (“The Wolf’s foot”) were surprised by the richness of the caves and pit caves they were exploring.
The professors from the Faculty of mathematics and natural sciences from Novi Sad along with the French bio speleologist Michel Pere and the members of the speleological associations from Trebinje, Beograd and Foča explored various caves and pit caves of this area. Some new underground objects never known before were also discovered.
This expedition was organized by “Vučja stopa” after the recent discovery of two new species of the cave fauna.
The professor of zoology from Novi Sad, Ivo Karaman says that the Dinaric area has a very rich underground world and that the epicentre of this diversity is located in the Eastern Herzegovina and the southern parts of Dalmatia and Montenegro.
“The discovery of the new species in the Peruc cave near Foča has intrigued us ad incited us to start with more intensive researches. The underground fauna of the Dinaric area is something extraordinary if we look at it globally; something like the Amazon for the fauna above the ground.” – said Karaman.
He explains that the living world in the caves of the Earth is specific and that these are live fossils who used to populate open biotopes and preserved themselves in the underground.
“We knew this area is interesting but we never expected this kind of results. Preliminary results imply that there are some endemic species living only in one cave, which surprised us.” – said Karaman.
From the speleological association “Vučja stopa” they have announced an International bio speleological expedition in which to participate speleologists and bio speleologists from several countries in Europe. It will take place next year.
At the beginning of this year, in the Peruc cave, in the canyon of the river Bistrica new species of the crayfish and beetle were found.
(Source: Nezavisne novine)
