A green mountain is watching over a city with almost a million inhabitants. The presence of man on the mountain of Medvednica goes back 45 thousand years, back to the time when the Neanderthals lived in the cave of Veternica. Today, the mountain is home to 18 bat species. As the name of the mountain says, with the Croatian word for bear in its root, bears once used to live on the mountain in large numbers. There are 91 strictly protected plant species in the Park, including yew (Taxus baccata), facing extinction in its original habitats in Europe. On Medvednica, however, not only is it possible to see individual yew trees, but even an entire forest of yew and linden. One particular yew tree on the location of Krumpirište is truly special and impressive, over thousand years old. The diversity of forests on Medvednica is incredible. It resulted in as many as eight special forest vegetation reserves declared in 1963, with the aim of properly managing the natural balance. The mountain that can be seen from virtually every window in the city facing north is a habitat to small animals, rodents, but also hoofed animals such as roe deer or wild boar. Smaller carnivores live on Medvednica too, such as wildcats, foxes, martens and weasels. Bats are undoubtedly special tenants of Medvednica. There are 24 bat species living in the Park, and seven of those are listed as Natura 2000 species, one of which is designated as nationally important. The mountain cave of Veternica is history turned into stone. Life was first present here 45 thousand years ago, when it was used as shelter by the Neanderthals, and bats live in it today.

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