Ursa Minor Cave is part of

Sequoia National Park Sequoia National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing a vertical relief of ...

, a naturally formed system of caves in California's

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

. The cave was discovered in August 2006 by four cave explorers from the

Cave Research Foundation The Cave Research Foundation (CRF) is an American private, non-profit group dedicated to the exploration, research, and conservation of caves. The group arose in the early 1950s from the exploration efforts at Floyd Collins Crystal Cave, now with ...

who found a softball-sized hole on a cliff face in the mountains. After widening the hole to allow for human entry, the explorers discovered one of the most spectacular caves in the western United States. The cave has since been named "Ursa Minor," because of the large

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the N ...

skeleton found in the cave. The cave was featured in the September 2007 issue of ''National Geographic'' magazine and has attracted many scientists and researchers interested in finding new species of

troglobites A troglobite (or, formally, troglobiont) is an animal species, or population of a species, strictly bound to underground habitats, such as caves. These are separate from species that mainly live in above-ground habitats but are also able to live u ...

, organisms that live in the complete darkness afforded by caves. Similar caves such as the Kaweah Cave and Lost Soldiers Cave have yielded over twenty new species of these exotic and rare species, which are sometimes limited to only a single pool of water or room of a cave. Access to this sensitive cave is currently limited to scientific and survey trips.

External links

Photo
– ''National Geographic News'', September 26, 2006 {{coord missing, Tulare County, California Caves of California Sequoia National Park Landforms of Tulare County, California