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

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

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

Bitola Bitola (; ) 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 border crossing ...

. 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 Sea 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 Se ...

. Pelister National Park's flora include the five-needle pine molika (''

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 ...

'') - a unique species of

tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...

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 (biology), 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 ...

s, roe deer,

wolves 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 ...

chamois The chamois (; ) (''Rupicapra rupicapra'') or Alpine chamois is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope native to the mountains in Southern Europe, from the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Apennines, the Dinarides, the Tatra Mountains, Tatra to the Carpa ...

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow 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 ...

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

s, several species of

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

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 ar ...

s, redbilled

jackdaw Jackdaws are two species of bird in the genus ''Coloeus'' closely related to, but generally smaller than, crows and ravens ('' Corvus''). They have a blackish crown, wings, and tail, with the rest of their plumage paler.Madge & Burn (1994) 136� ...

s, and the endemic Macedonian Pelagonia

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

. 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 ( ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhabitants as of ...

, Prespa, Dojran,

Popova Šapka Popova Šapka (, literally "the priest's hat") or Kodra e Diellit (Albanian language, Albanian for "hill of the sun") is a Summit (topography), peak in North Macedonia. It is over above sea level and is a Tetovo#Tourism, ski resort in North Maced ...

, and

Kruševo Kruševo ( ; "Crușuva") is a town in North Macedonia. In Macedonian language, 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 altitude of over ...

. 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 Greec ...

, Nidže,

Galičica Galičica (, ) is a mountain situated across the border between North Macedonia and Albania. North Macedonia's side of the mountain is designated as a national park, positioned between the country's two largest lakes: Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa, ...

, Jakupica, 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 a ...

using an additionally guyed lattice steel mast as antenna tower.

References

External links

Large Carnivores in the "Republic of Macedonia" (Recognised by Greece as: "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia")
* 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