, a
dog breed of the
livestock guardian type named after the Šar Mountains The Šar Mountains are located in the south and south-east of
Kosovo, where 43.12% of the range is located. Many
alpine and
glacial mountain lakes are found on the Kosovar part of the Šar Mountains, especially south of the town of
Dragash, the area of Shutman and the region north of Vraca. The
Brezovica ski resort, with an elevation of to above sea level, is located north-east of the mountains. The mountain range in Kosovo is divided into three main zones: The zone of
Ljuboten and
Brezovica, the central zone of
Prizren and the zone of Opoja and
Gora. , Kosovo The mountains border the Kosovo Plain to the north-east and the Metohia Valley in the northwest. Kosovo consists of the most eastern tip and the most northern part of the mountain ridge. The Ljuboten peak and the mountain of
Skopska Crna Gora create the
Kaçanik Gorge in Kosovo. The Šar Mountains are split from the
Nerodimka Mountain by the Sirinić Valley. The Šar National Park is located in
Kosovo. Villages and towns that are found near the mountain are: •
Prizren, largest city located at the foot of the mountains. •
Kaçanik •
Dragash •
Brezovica •
Štrpce Lakes in the Kosovo part of the Šar Mountains are: •
Jazhincë Lake •
Small Jazhincë Lake •
Shutman Lake •
Lower Defsko Lake •
Livadh Lake •
Black Vir Lake •
Donji Vir Lake •
Blateško Lake •
Upper Defsko Lake •
Dinivodno Lake In total, there are 70
glacial lakes on the Šar Mountains. and opened in 1995. The final boundaries of the Park were expanded in 2012 to cover an area of .
Geography The park occupies the northwest sections of the mountain's main massif, including the highest peak, Bistra, an spreads over the sections of
Prevalla,
Oshlak, Ostrovica and Kodža Balkan. The park encompasses several different types of
topographic relief:
glacial (
cirques,
moraines and
glacial lakes),
periglacial (snow cirques, sliding blocks, "tundra mosaic" type of micro-shapes in the deposits of silt),
karstic and
fluvial. There are numerous rivers, springs, creeks, bogs and lakes.
Plant life In total, there are 1,800 plant species. The mountain is inhabited by 175 strictly protected plant species, 247 Balkan
endemites and 18 plants which can be found only on Šar Mountains. The park includes the endemic relict
Macedonian Pine and
white-bark pine, as well as the
mugo pine and
Alpine rose. Other perennial plants include
King Alexander's yarrow (
Achillea alexandri-regis),
Nikolić's silene (
Heliosperma nikolicii),
Bornmuellera dieckii,
Šar carnation (
Dianthus scardicus Wettst.),
Doerfler's cinquefoils and Macedonian meadow saffron (
Colhicum macedonicum). One of the relic species is
Natalie's ramonda. It went extinct from the most of Europe during the last ice age and today grows as an endemic species in several gorges in Serbia, North Macedonia and Greece. It has been chosen as the Serbian symbol for the
Armistice Day. ''
Animal life Rusenica locality on the mountain has been in the first level of protection, as the strict reserve of nature, since 1955. It is one of the rare habitats of
Balkan lynx, the largest European cat. It is estimated that on the entire Balkans there are no more than 100 specimens.
European pond turtle and
Hermann's tortoise, only two European species of freshwater turtles, live on the mountain. There are 147 butterfly species (excluding moths), 45 amphibians and reptilians and 37 mammalian species. Other animals include
bear,
chamois,
wolf,
roe deer,
wild boar and other species including many bird species. The national park contains 720 chamois while the
Opoja and
Gora region contains 600 chamois. The National Park is administered by the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (MESP). == See also ==