The Tular Cave Laboratory in Slovenia (Jamski laboratorij Tular) was established in 1960 by Marko Aljancic, a biologist specialising in subterranean species, who populated the laboratory with the European cave salamander (Proteus anguinus). The blind amphibian dwells in the subterranean waters endemic to the Dinaric Karst, where groundwater has carved underground limestone caverns. It spans from East Italy through Slovenia, over coastal Croatia to Herzegovina and part of Bosnia. The highly endangered Proteus can live up to 100 years, is the only European cave vertebrate and, at about 10 to 12 inches long, is by far the largest cave animal in the world. Tular is the biggest cave laboratory in Slovenia and one of the few places where the endangered European cave salamander has been successfully bred outside its natural habitat. The laboratory also maintains a colony of an extremely rare dark-pigmented subspecies endemic to Slovenia. The cave laboratory has studied the ecology and behaviour of Proteus, primarily its breeding, for more than 50 years. Conditions at the Tular Cave Laboratory include total darkness and near 100 percent humidity. The laboratory maintains 40 Proteus in four large laboratory pools to simulate their natural cave environment, with clay on the bottom and rocks for hiding. Experiments are based on observation and are carefully designed not to harm or stress the animals. The laboratory is a constituent body of Slovenia's Cave Biology Society and is led by Gregor Aljancic.
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