Pelister National Park

The National Park Pelister was proclaimed by a law enacted by the Presidium of the People's Republic of Macedonia on November 30, 1948. In December 2007, by a special law, part of Mount Baba with its peak Pelister was once again declared a national park. According to the Law on Nature Protection, the Public Institution National Park Pelister - Bitola is responsible for the protection and management of the park.

Mount Baba, with its peak Pelister, is located in the southern part of the Republic of Macedonia and boasts alpine characteristics. Pelister is nestled between the valleys of Pelagonia and Prespa. It is approximately 465 million years old and is the highest peak in the park, standing at 2,601 meters above sea level.

There are two legends associated with the name Pelister. Some claim that the name originates from the Greek word "peristeri," meaning dove, due to the white-grayish limestone, which resembles a dove when viewed from a distance. Others believe it is because of the five-needle pine - "petlister" (five needles - five leaves), hence Pelister.

The most remarkable features of the fauna in the National Park Pelister lie in its diversity, heterogeneity, and the presence of numerous relic and endemic species. Endemic species are primarily found among the invertebrate groups of organisms.

The terrestrial invertebrate fauna of Pelister demonstrates the presence of a total of 288 taxa, belonging to 10 invertebrate groups.

Among the invertebrates, the small glacial lake "Malo Ezero" hosts a splendid population of the fairy shrimp Chirocephalus diaphanus carinatus, representing a Balkan relic-endemic taxon. Exclusively inhabiting the large glacial lake "Golemo Ezero" is the amphipod shrimp Niphragus pancici peristericus, a Pelister endemic, previously recorded solely in this lake.

Only in the waters of these two glacial lakes, one can find the harpacticoid shrimp Arcticocampus macedonicus, a Pelister endemic species.

In the spring waters of the NP Pelister, at elevations between 1600 and 2200 m, two Pelister relic-endemic species of ostracods live: Iliodromus peristericus and Eucypris diebeli.

In the mountain streams and rivers of the National Park, relic-endemic faunal elements are also present. From Magarevska River, the Macedonian endemic stonefly Nemoura peristeri has been described.

Among the vertebrates of Pelister, besides 2 fish species, there are 12 species of amphibians, 16 species of reptiles, constituting 50% of the diversity of reptiles in North Macedonia, 116 species of birds, including 5 extinct species, and 47 species of mammals. Four taxa of mammals have been described for the first time from localities within the National Park: Balkan mole (Talpa caeca beaucournii), a typical inhabitant of the Macedonian pine forests; Balkan mole (Talpa stankovici), described based on specimens collected from mountain meadows in the National Park; Macedonian red-backed vole (Clethrionomys glareolus makedonicus), first recorded and described from the deciduous and mixed forests of Pelister, also representing a Macedonian endemic.