Greater Fatra National Park

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The Greater Fatra National Park is a national park in the Greater Fatra mountains in Slovakia. It was established in 2002 and was a "protected landscape area" before that year. It has an area of 403.71 km² (the protection zone 261.33 km²).

Most of the area is covered by forest – beech and beech-fir forests, in some places replaced by spruce forests and relics of pines. The area of Harmanec is the richest yew-tree site in Europe. The original natural upper borderline of forests was lowered during the Wallachian colonization.

Numerous karst formations occur in this area, the best know of them is the Harmanec Cave (Harmanecká jaskyňa).

[edit] Flora

Greater Fatra is considered to be the largest locality of Irish Yew (Taxus baccata), a remnant from Tertiary period, in Central Europe. Other interesting plants include:

• edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum)
• daisy (Aster alpinus)
• windflower Narcissus Anemone (Anemone narcissiflora)
• Fatra cyclamen (Cyclamen fatrense) – rare endemit
• Koeleria tristis – rare endemit
• bog bean (Menyanthes trifoliata)
• round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia)
• Great Sundew (Drosera anglica)

[edit] Fauna

• Brown bear (Ursus arctos)
• Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx)
• Carpathian Red Deer (Cervus elaphus)
• Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus)
• Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra)
• Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)
• Lesser Spotted Eagle (Aquila pomarina)

Other details can be found in the Greater Fatra article.