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A: A map of the beaver presence in the south-eastern part of the Sava catchment in the surroundings of the Vidovec Cave where the beaver was observed. Data on other beaver occurrences is from the database maintained by the Inštitut Lutra (2023). Other map layers are from Copernicus data and information funded by the European Union -EU-DEM (EU 2016), and GURS (2010) (rivers and state border). Map produced with QGIS version 3.32.3. B: entrance of the Vidovec Cave. Photo: Primož Presetnik Slika 1. A: Zemljevid pojavljanja bobra v jugovzhodnem delu porečja Save, v bližini jame Vidovec, kjer je bil opažen bober. Podatke o pojavljanju bobra smo pridobili iz zbirke podatkov Inštituta Lutra (2023). Drugi uporabljeni sloji so podatki Copernicus in informacije, ki jih financira Evropska unija -EU-DEM (EU 2016) in GURS (2010) (sloj rek in državna meja). Zemljevid smo izdelali s programom QGIS verzija 3.32.3. B: Vhod v jamo Vidovec. Foto: Primož Presetnik
Source publication
The Eurasian beaver is a common rodent which became extinct in Slovenia in the 18th century and reappeared in the 1990’s. This field note describes an encounter with a beaver inside the Vidovec Cave (Metlika, Southeastern Slovenia). Apart from a sign of beaver presence, we also noticed a straw mat presumably used for sleeping. The described observa...
Citations
... The presence of the European beaver in caves was also recorded along the Korana River in Croatia (Augustinović et al., 2022) in the caves Vila Jezerkinja (cadastral number HR04532) and Šupljara (cadastral number HR02513) (Augustinović et al., 2024), but these locations are upstream of the Matešićeva Cave -Popovačka Cave System. In neighbouring Slovenia, the beaver was observed in Vidovec Cave (cadastral number 3342) along the river Kupa/Kopa (Kepic et al., 2023). ...
... In our example (Fig. 1, Fig. 3) the combination of a large distance from the River Korana and the demanding karstified terrain make this land migration less probable. All the so far recorded localities of European beavers in caves (Augustinović et al., 2024;Kepic et al., 2023;pers. comm. ...
... comm. Tina Bosner and Ruđer Novak) and Vidovac Cave (Kepic et al., 2023), which share the hydrology type (stream exiting cave) of Jopićeva Cave. Single mats were noted also by Gore & Baker (1989) for North American beaver in caves confirming that they are used as short-term shelters for this species, but the same study also mentions a cave sustaining a beaver family. ...
After its reintroduction in northern Croatia, the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber L.) successfully spread to new areas along streams. Although the beaver has spread in a part of Croatia covered with karst, the information published to date about beavers using caves has been sparse. Since the first observation in the Matešićeva Cave-Popovačka Cave System near Slunj in 2021 and two caves in Plitvice Lakes National Park in 2022, the beaver and traces of its activity was recorded several times in Jopićeva Cave near Krnjak in the period from March to June 2022. In the same year, beaver activity was recorded near Krnjak in the surface stream Bent connected with cave streams. The spatial and field analysis of this locality showed it is likely that the entry of the beaver into the cave, diving through karst spring Vrelce, was induced by limited access to compatible surface habitats and additional pressures induced by humans. More research is needed for a better understanding of the importance of caves for beavers and the species limitations determined by karst areas. Europski dabar (Castor fiber L.) nakon reintrodukcije u sjevernu Hrvatsku uspješno se proširio na nova područja uz vodotoke. Iako se dabar proširio u dijelu Hrvatske prekrivenom kršem, dosad je malo objavljenih podataka o dabrovima koji koriste špilje. Od prvog opažanja u Sustavu Matešićeva špilja-Popovačka špilja kod Slunja 2021. godine i dvije špilje u Nacionalnom parku Plitvička jezera 2022. godine, dabar i tragovi njegove aktivnosti više su puta zabilježeni u Jopićevoj špilji kod Krnjaka u razdoblju od ožujka do lipnja 2022. godine. Iste godine zabilježena je aktivnost dabra kod Krnjaka u površinskom potoku Bent koji je povezan sa špiljskim potocima. Prostorna i terenska analiza ovog lokaliteta pokazala je da je vjerojatno da je ulazak dabra u špilju, roneći kroz krški izvor Vrelce, bio potaknut ograničenim pristupom kompatibilnim površinskim staništima i dodatnim pritiscima izaz-vanima od strane čovjeka. Potrebna su dodatna istraživanja za bolje razumijevanje važnosti špilja za dabra i ograničenja ove vrste koja uvjetuju krška područja.
... The presence of the European beaver in caves was also recorded along the Korana River in Croatia (Augustinović et al., 2022) in the caves Vila Jezerkinja (cadastral number HR04532) and Šupljara (cadastral number HR02513) (Augustinović et al., 2024), but these locations are upstream of the Matešićeva Cave -Popovačka Cave System. In neighbouring Slovenia, the beaver was observed in Vidovec Cave (cadastral number 3342) along the river Kupa/Kopa (Kepic et al., 2023). ...
... In our example (Fig. 1, Fig. 3) the combination of a large distance from the River Korana and the demanding karstified terrain make this land migration less probable. All the so far recorded localities of European beavers in caves (Augustinović et al., 2024;Kepic et al., 2023;pers. comm. ...
... comm. Tina Bosner and Ruđer Novak) and Vidovac Cave (Kepic et al., 2023), which share the hydrology type (stream exiting cave) of Jopićeva Cave. Single mats were noted also by Gore & Baker (1989) for North American beaver in caves confirming that they are used as short-term shelters for this species, but the same study also mentions a cave sustaining a beaver family. ...
After its reintroduction in northern Croatia, the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber L.) successfully spread to new areas along streams. Although the beaver has spread in a part of Croatia covered with karst, the information published to date about beavers using caves has been sparse. Since the first observation in the Matešićeva Cave – Popovačka Cave System near Slunj in 2021 and two caves in Plitvice Lakes National Park in 2022, the beaver and traces of its activity was recorded several times in Jopićeva Cave near Krnjak in the period from March to June 2022. In the same year, beaver activity was recorded near Krnjak in the surface stream Bent connected with cave streams. The spatial and field analysis of this locality showed it is likely that the entry of the beaver into the cave, diving through karst spring Vrelce, was induced by limited access to compatible surface habitats and additional pressures induced by humans. More research is needed for a better understanding of the importance of caves for beavers and the species limitations determined by karst areas.
