New Protected Area in SW Bulgaria to Help Conserve Alpine Newt

Jerusalem, 4 December, 2022 (TPS) -- SOFIA, 04.12.2022 16:57 (BTA)
A new protected area has been declared in Tran Municipality, Pernik Region (Southwestern Bulgaria) by order of caretaker Environment and Water Minister Rositsa Karamfilova. The “Localities of Alpine Newt in Ruy Mountain” covers an area of nearly 5 ha within the territory of the villages of Rani Lug and Nasalevtsi, the Environment Ministry reported.

The protected area will help conserve the Alpine newt (Ichthyosaura alpestris), a species classified as vulnerable in the Red Data Book of Bulgaria, along with its habitat as well as the breeding grounds of other significant species of amphibians, such as the fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra), the smooth newt (Lissotriton vulgaris), the southern crested newt (Triturus karelinii), the yellow-bellied toad (Bombina variegata), the common toad (Bufo bufo), and the agile frog (Rana dalmatina).

The new protected area was declared at the proposal of the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) and the National Museum of Natural History with BAS.

In Bulgaria, the Alpine newt can also be found in Osogovo and the area of Teteven in the Balkan Range.