Vrtare Male cave

Vrtare Male cave in Dramalj represents one of the richest palaeontological sites in Croatia. It attests to the life in prehistory and the Late Pleistocene, that is, the end of the long period of the Ice Age, in which present man emerged.
The cave is ca. forty metres deep and contains a variety of fossil remnants of long extinct animals and a great biodiversity of cave organisms. Palaeontological research has confirmed the presence of bones and teeth of the elephant, wild rhino, aurochs/bison, horse, fallow deer, chamois, cave lion, cave bear, bear, and wolf. There are also numerous remnants of small mammals and birds: common vole, hamster, rabbit, bat, mole, wood pigeon, chough , goshawk, snowy owl, raven etc.
The cave has been given preliminary protection by listening in the Croatian Register of Nature Monuments. Although palaeontological research in the cave has only begun, it has already yielded some extraordinary results.