Flora and fauna

That the Krka and the landscape around it were declared a national park and placed under special protection is thanks to the rare rock formation in its incomparably beautiful form here and to the varied course of the river. The park should be explored either by boat or along the river banks by car. For in any case it lives and unfolds its particular atmosphere through the changing landscape — not so much on account of animals to be observed or brightly coloured plants. For natural woodland in particular is hardly to be found any more in this formerly well-settled landscape used for agriculture. Since hardly any goats graze here any more and both arable farming and clearance were almost entirely stopped by the founding of the national park, nature is however flourishing again: Mediterranean and southern European plants, artificially introduced specimens from all over the world, evergreens, deciduous and coniferous trees are found here as well as water lilies, reeds, rushes and pond lilies. Over the coming years, however, the stock is to be returned as far as possible to its original, autochthonous state, so that in a few years it may perhaps be possible to write something about the plant world of the Krka park that presents it as unique for the whole region. With the animal world the situation is more complex still: many species were indeed disturbed in their rhythm of life and reproduction by the interventions in nature, so that one can say with certainty that the fauna here too is not as authentic as one would like — yet the animal world is far less researched than the plant world. It has been found that fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians in particular are widespread here, but how high the proportion of the individual species is exactly could not yet be established — all the more so as new species are constantly being discovered. Eighteen species of fish are estimated, of which 4 are documented as salmon and 9 to 12 as fresh-water species. Lizards, newts, olms and toads, tortoises, grass snakes and frogs have likewise been sighted in numbers and can also be easily spotted on walks, above all in the lower area of the park. Two hundred and twenty-two species of bird have already been counted, which makes the Krka a particularly rich region in this respect. Besides the marsh and migratory birds, the rare eagles, falcons and owls are of interest above all. And at nightfall one can see 18 different species of one of the few mammal groups fluttering through the air: the bats have found in this park an all but perfect environment in which to increase their numbers and perhaps soon to disappear from the list of endangered species.