Skakavitsa () is a nature reserve in

Rila National Park Rila National Park () is the largest national park in Bulgaria spanning an area of in the Rila mountain range in the south-west of the country. History It was established on 24 February 1992 to protect several ecosystems of national importanc ...

, located in the Rila mountain range in southwestern

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. It was declared in March 1968 to protect undisturbed primary forests of Macedonian pine (''

Pinus peuce ''Pinus peuce'' (Macedonian pine or Balkan pine) (Serbo-Croatian and Macedonian: молика, molika; Bulgarian: бяла мура, byala mura) is a species of pine native to the mountains of North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Montenegro, Kos ...

''). Spanning a territory of 83 ha or 0.83 km², it is among the nation’s smallest protected areas.

Geography

Skakavitsa is situated in northwestern Rila in the upper valley of the river Dzherman between 1,850 and 2,050 m altitude. Just south of the reserve's limited territory are located the Skakavitsa Waterfall (70 m), the highest in the mountain range, and the

Seven Rila Lakes The Seven Rila Lakes (, ) are a group of glacial lakes, situated in the northwestern Rila Mountain in Bulgaria. Situated between 2,100 and 2,500 metres elevation above sea level, they are the most visited group of lakes in Bulgaria. Each lake ca ...

, both among the most visited tourist attractions in the area. To the north is the small resort of Panichishte. Administratively, it is part of Sapareva Banya Municipality, Kyustendil Province, within the area of the town of

Sapareva Banya Sapareva Banya (, transliterated ''Sapareva banya'') is a town in southwestern Bulgaria, part of Kyustendil Province. As Ancient Germania (in Dacia), a former bishopric, it is a Latin Catholic titular see. It is located at the north foot of the Ri ...

Flora and fauna

Most of Skakavitsa is covered with forests. Due to the high altitude the predominant tree species are coniferous, such as Scots pine (''

Pinus sylvestris ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US), Baltic pine, or European red pine is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native plant, native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly s ...

''), Austrian pine (''

Pinus nigra ''Pinus nigra'', the Austrian pine or black pine, is a moderately variable species of pine, occurring across Southern Europe from the Iberian Peninsula and Lower Austria to the eastern Mediterranean, on the Anatolian peninsula of Turkey, Corsica ...

''), European silver fir (''

Abies alba Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The g ...

'') and Norway spruce (''

Picea abies ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, ...

''). Of high conservation importance are the old growth forests of Macedonian pine in the lower areas of the reserve. There are a number of rare and endemic plant species under protection, such as '' Trollius europaeus'', '' Geum bulgaricum'', ''

Rheum rhaponticum ''Rheum rhaponticum'', the false rhubarb, rhapontic rhubarb or rhapontic, is a plant species in the genus ''Rheum'' found in the wild. It is the only ''Rheum'' species found only in Europe, and is now restricted to the Rila mountain range in sout ...

'', ''

Gentiana lutea ''Gentiana lutea'', the great yellow gentian, is a species of gentian native to the mountains of central and southern Europe. Growth ''Gentiana lutea'' is an herbaceous perennial plant, growing to tall, with broad lanceolate to elliptic leaves ...

'', '' Aquilegia aurea'', ''

Rhodiola rosea ''Rhodiola rosea'' (commonly golden root, rose root, roseroot, Aaron's rod, Arctic root, king's crown, ''lignum rhodium'', orpin rose) is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae. It grows naturally in wild Arctic ...

'', '' Valeriana montana'', ''

Pyrola media ''Pyrola media'', the intermediate wintergreen, is a flowering plant in the genus ''Pyrola'', native to northern and eastern Europe and Western Asia.''Flora Europaea'Pyrola media''/ref> It is a herbaceous evergreen perennial plant with a basa ...

'', ''

Vaccinium myrtillus ''Vaccinium myrtillus'' or European blueberry is a Holarctic realm, holarctic species of shrub with edible fruit of blue color, known by the common names bilberry, blaeberry, wimberry, and whortleberry. It is more precisely called common bilberr ...

'', etc. The fauna is diverse for the reserve’s limited territory, with a number of rare mammal and bird species of conservation importance, including

gray wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...

, roe deer,

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

, Eurasian water shrew,

northern nutcracker The northern nutcracker (''Nucifraga caryocatactes''), previously known as spotted nutcracker and Eurasian nutcracker, is a passerine bird in the crow family Corvidae. It is slightly larger than the Eurasian jay but has a much larger bill and a s ...

Alpine accentor The alpine accentor (''Prunella collaris'') is a small passerine bird in the family Prunellidae, which is native to Eurasia and North Africa. Taxonomy The Alpine accentor was described by the Austrian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 176 ...

, etc. Reptiles and amphibians are represented by species adapted to high altitudes, such as common European viper,

Aesculapian snake #REDIRECT Aesculapian snake {{redirect category shell, {{R from another capitalisation{{R from move ...

viviparous lizard The viviparous lizard or common lizard (''Zootoca vivipara'', formerly ''Lacerta vivipara'') is a Eurasian lizard. It lives farther north than any other non-marine reptile species, and is named for the fact that it is viviparous, meaning it give ...

and

common frog The common frog or grass frog (''Rana temporaria''), also known as the European common frog, European common brown frog, European grass frog, European Holarctic true frog, European pond frog or European brown frog or simply the frog, is a semi ...

Gallery

File:Скакавица в Рила.jpg , Skakavitsa Waterfall File:Скакавица ледена.jpg , Skakavitsa in winter File:Skakavica 4.jpg , Flora of Skakavitsa File:Рилски красоти.jpg , Flora of Skakavitsa

Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skakavitsa Biosphere reserves of Bulgaria Nature reserves in Bulgaria Rila Geography of Kyustendil Province Tourist attractions in Kyustendil Province Protected areas established in 1968 1968 establishments in Bulgaria