Suva Planina
Suva Planina (Serbian Cyrillic: Сува планина, meaning "dry mountain") is a mountain in southeastern Serbia. It lies between the towns of Niška Banja to the northwest and Babušnica to the southeast, with a ridge branching towards Bela Palanka to the north. It was previously called Kunovica. Pešturina cave on the mountain is the location of the first discovery of Neanderthal remains in Serbia, recorded in April 2019. Geography. The highest peak is "Trem" ("porch") at 1,810 m, the second highest being "Golemo Stražište" at 1,714m, as well as "Litica" ("cliff") at 1,683m on the southeast side  of the mountain. The name stems from the fact that there are only a few springs in the whole mountain. The two biggest are "Bojanine Vode" (near to Sokolov Kamen at 860 m) and "Rakoš Česma" (on the Bela Palanka side of the mountain). Wildlife. The Divna Gorica range is known for feral horses. They also roam to the other, higher parts of the mountain, above . Human history. The Pešturina cave, nicknamed the "Serbian Atapuerca", is located on the northern slopes of the mountain. Since 2006 the cave has been archaeologically surveyed and artifacts from the Middle and Upper Paleolithic  periods have been discovered. The artifacts belong to the Neanderthal Mousterian culture, and are dated from 102,000 BP+ 5,000 to 39,000 BP + 3,000, making Pešturina one of the longest surviving Neanderthal habitations. In April 2019 it was announced that Neanderthal remains were discovered, which marks the first discovery of such in Serbia. Traces of the Roman military road "Via Militaris", connecting Singidunum (now Belgrade) and Constantinople (now Istanbul) are still visible from the mountain. The mountain remains known for the extensive husbandry, where hundreds of cattle and horses are left to freely roam over the mountain during the warm  season, up to the early November. In the season of 2021 there were over 800 cattle and 200 horses on the mountain, when the only water spring on the mountain, Rakoš, completely dried out in August due to the hot summer and prolonged drought. There have been dry seasons before, so the local administration already hired military to bring water to the animals, but the contract expired and military withdrew. Herdsmen also hired private contractors to bring water, but were left without funds, plus they could provide small amount of water needed - daily needs are 50 tons, and only 6  tons could be provided. By September the situation turned dire, as there was no point to herd livestock back into the villages, as all water sources dried out there, too, and the tap water was heavily restricted. Out of six major droughts recorded since 1990, this one was the most severe, as the mountain is getting drier. Local authorities called the situation a catastrophe, and the nationwide action was taken to help the animals with situation on the mountain becoming a national news. Activists and donors organized, but couldn't provide nearly enough water. In the end, the Ministry of  agriculture stepped in, promising to pay for the water transport, and the army resumed the water transport. Tourism. The slopes of this mountain are popular with skiing. Every final weekend in February there is a mountaineering event, "Zimski uspon na Trem" ("Winter climb on Trem"), which gathers over 600 mountaineers from all parts of the Balkans. It is also the regions's biggest mountain winter event. It started in 1997 and is currently under the organization of mountaineering club "Železničar", based in Niš. Protection. As of 2010, Suva Planina is undergoing a process of declaration of as a special nature  preserve.