Olm Eggs: the first two Slovenian “dragons” emerge

Each new life is a miracle. Exactly four months after one of the female olms laid its first egg in the vivarium, Postojna Cave welcomed the first baby dragon to the world, on 30th May 2016 at 10:48 in the morning. A second baby olm followed out of its egg on Wednesday night.

Since January, when the olm laid its first egg, scientists, biologists and people in Postojna Cave, the iconic attraction of Slovenian tourism, have been keeping a close eye on the cave vivarium. During the eggs’ development, they were often careful and unsure, since this was the first time we have been able to observe this natural phenomenon so closely. The lives of olms are a big mystery. They live in the depths of caves, in total darkness, completely hidden from humans. According to statistics, an average of only two baby olms successfully hatch from 500 eggs in the wild.

The story does not end here. There are twenty-two more eggs that baby dragons can hatch from. The total number of eggs that were laid was sixty-four. The biologists at Postojna Cave are now keeping a close eye on the eggs to see which will be the next to hatch. It was a big surprise when the new-born creature shot out of its egg and swam around the aquarium in a single attempt. This is one of the reasons why the infrared camera footage is an invaluable record for both the biologists and the general public; in fact, olm hatching has never been filmed before.

Congratulations to Postojna Cave and the mother olm!

Back to news