Baba ( mk, Баба; or Baba Mountain, mk, Баба Планина, Baba Planina), or also known by the name of its highest peak, Pelister ( mk, Пелистер), is a mountain in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

. The Pelister peak (2601 metres, or 8533 feet) overlooks the city of

Bitola Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...

. Baba is the third highest mountain in North Macedonia. Other peaks besides Pelister are Dva Groba (2514 metres), Veternica (2420 metres), Musa (2350 metres), Ržana (2334 meters), Široka (2218 metres), Kozji Kamen (2199 metres), Griva (2198 metres) and Golema Čuka (2188 metres) in North Macedonia, and Belavoda (2.179 meters), Kirko. The Baba massif splits up the rivers in the region, so that they either flow towards the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

Pelister National Park Pelister National Park is a national park in the Municipality of Bitola, North Macedonia. The park is located in the Baba Mountain massif and covers an area of . The altitude of the park varies between above sea level and is filled with exqu ...

's flora include the five-needle pine molika (''

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

'') - a unique species of

tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

age being present on only a few mountains in the Balkan Peninsula. Fauna in the area include:

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 Nor ...

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

chamois The chamois (''Rupicapra rupicapra'') or Alpine chamois is a species of goat-antelope native to mountains in Europe, from west to east, including the Alps, the Dinarides, the Tatra and the Carpathian Mountains, the Balkan Mountains, the Ril ...

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

, 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 suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is no ...

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

s, several species of

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

partridge A partridge is a medium-sized Galliformes, galliform bird in any of several genera, with a wide Indigenous (ecology), native distribution throughout parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species have been introduced to the Americas. They a ...

s, redbilled

jackdaw Jackdaws are two species of bird in the genus ''Coloeus'' closely related to, but generally smaller than, the crows and ravens (''Corvus''). ''Coloeus'' is sometimes treated as a subgenus of ''Corvus'', including by the IUCN.Madge & Burn (1994) ...

s, and the endemic Macedonian Pelagonia

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

. In a comprehensive article published in 2002, Melovski and Godes reported that there are three large carnivores in North Macedonia which can be found in Baba and surrounds, the brown bear, the wolf and the lynx. Actual numbers at that time were difficult to estimate given that most reports came from non-scientific sources (surveys, hunters and anecdotal reports), however in 2002, it was estimated there were approximately 30 bears in N.P. Pelister and Galičica N.P hosting only 3-4. A larger number could apparently be found in the N.P Mavrovo. The numbers however may be significantly larger in today's climate given the protected status of bears in North Macedonia. In terms of wolves, there was an estimated total of 1200 wolves in the entire country of North Macedonia, with an estimated 54 lynx when the article was written. Bitolj

Pelister is the oldest and second largest national park in North Macedonia after Mavrovo. It is one of the leading tourist areas in the country, since it is a well-known ski resort, along with

Ohrid Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...

Prespa Prespa ( mk, Преспа, sq, Prespa, el, Πρέσπα) is a region shared between North Macedonia, Albania and Greece. It shares the same name with the two Prespa lakes which are situated in the middle of the region. The largest town is Rese ...

Dojran Dojran ( mk, Дојран ) was a city on the west shore of Lake Dojran in the southeast part of North Macedonia. Today, it is a collective name for two villages on the territory of the ruined city: Nov Dojran (New Dojran, settled from the end o ...

Popova Šapka Popova Šapka ( mk, Попова Шапка, literally "the priest's hat"; sq, Kodra e Diellit, literally "hill of the sun") is a peak in North Macedonia. It is over above sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an a ...

, and

Kruševo Kruševo ( mk, Крушево ; rup, Crushuva "Crușuva") is a town in North Macedonia. In Macedonian the name means the 'place of pear trees'. It is the highest town in North Macedonia and one of the highest in the Balkans, situated at an alti ...

. Pelister provides views of the Pelagonia valley,

Lake Prespa The Lake Prespa is located on the tripoint of North Macedonia, Albania, and Greece. It is a system of two lakes separated by an isthmus: the Great Prespa Lake, divided between the three countries, and the Little Prespa Lake, mostly within Greece ...

, Nidže,

Galičica Galičica ( mk, , sq, Mali i Thatë) is a mountain situated across the border between North Macedonia and Albania. There is a national park on North Macedonia's side of the mountain, situated between the two biggest lakes in the republic: Lake Oh ...

Jakupica Jakupica ( mk, , ) or Mokra ( mk, Мокра, ) is a mountain range in the central part of North Macedonia. The headwaters of the Axios river ( grc, Ἀξιός), mentioned by Homer (Il. 21.141, Il. 2.849) as the home of the Paeonians allies of ...

, and the city of

. Pelister is also one of the most southern mountains in the Balkans that has an alpine character. Pelister is also known for its two mountain lakes, which are called Pelister's Eyes. The Big lake is 2,218 metres above the sea level while the Small lake is 2,180 metres high. Here are the sources of many rivers. The climate in Pelister National Park is diverse. On the peaks, there is snow even in July, and in some places the new snow meets the old from previous years. On Pelister mountain, there is a

TV transmitter A television transmitter is a transmitter that is used for terrestrial (over-the-air) television broadcasting. It is an electronic device that radiates radio waves that carry a video signal representing moving images, along with a synchronized au ...

using an additionally guyed lattice steel mast as antenna tower.

References

External links

* http://www.catsg.org/balkanlynx/02_status/2_1_situation-countries/fyr-macedonia/Pdfs/Melovski_&_Godes_2002_Large_carnivores_in_the_Republic_of_Macedonia_Arcturos_report.pdf http://www.catsg.org/balkanlynx/02_status/2_1_situation-countries/fyr-macedonia/Pdfs/Hristovski_&_Angelovski_2004_FYR_Macedonia_in_Eurasian_lynx_status_report.pdf
"Pelister Vrh, Macedonia" on Peakbagger
{{Authority control Two-thousanders of North Macedonia Mountains of North Macedonia Bitola Resen Municipality Tourist attractions in Bitola

See also

References

External links