by Alessandra Ressa
A young olm was freed on Monday in the depths of a Carso cave after three months of captivity. The olm was found miraculously alive by utility workers last May inside Trieste’s aqueduct Randaccio during a routine inspection. Although it is still not clear how the cave animal was able to reach the pipeline tank where it was found, it was immediately rescued and given proper care by a team of experts of the Trieste museum Speleovivarium, managed by Società Adriatica di Speleologia.
Local authorities were also immediately notified. The young olm, believed to be approximately 5 years old (olms can live up to 85 years), was judged ready to go back to its natural environment after several tests had been carried out to determine its age, health conditions, DNA and possibly place of origin. Heavy rains in the past weeks have also offered a favorable condition for its release into the wild on Monday.
The shy creature was carried to the bottom of a Carso cave by Trieste speleologists in a tank kept at a temperature of 13.5 degrees C.
“The moment we opened the tank – said Speleovivarium museum manager Edgardo Mauri – the young olm literally leaped into the pool of the cave and swam slowly away into the darkness. The little guy spent 71 days with us… it was a very intense moment.”
Olm or Proteus (Proteus anguinus) is a pale-skinned blind aquatic salamander with external gills. It exclusively lives in limestone caves of Europe. It is entirely aquatic, eating, breathing and sleeping underwater. Living in caves found in the Dinaric Alps, it is endemic to the waters that flow underground through the extensive limestone bedrock of the Central and Southeastern Europe, In ancient times they were believed to be the offspring of dragons.
