Croatia 2005 Overview

Proclamied a national park in 1949, Plitvice lakes region is among the most valuable features of natural interest in Croatia and indeed the world. The high forest sometimes take on the character of virgin forest, with a corresponding richness of fauna and luxuriance of vegetation.
Tucked away in this forest-covered karst landscape are 16 blue and green lakes, large and small, one underneath another. They are linked together with foaming cascades and pounding waterfalls, and are supplied with water from numerous little brooks and streams.
During the millenia, water has eroded and dissolved the rocks of its own course and beds; subsequently, with the help of particular species of moss and algae, the dissolved calcium carbonate has been sedimented out to create tufa or travertine.
The parks contains the habitats of many species of bird, of the brown bear, wolves, red deer and roe deer, wild boar and wild cats, while the water of the lakes are home to trout and crustaceans.