Kosovo biologist Halil Ibrahimi believes the restrictions imposed by the pandemic have a positive side, as he has been able to complete his investigation, raise public awareness of river basin contamination and name an insect discovered by him as a coronavirus.
Ibrahimi, 44, spent years researching a Tricopter insect found in the Prokletije Mountains National Park in western Kosovo. The species is now called Potamophylax coronavirus.
As a professor at the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Pristina, Ibrahimi collected the species, which proved endemic to the national park, 120 kilometers west of Pristina, and determined that it is very different from other species in the Balkans.
It is much smaller and its habitat is different because it is 2,000 meters above sea level.
He announced the month he chose for the species in a scientific journal.
“Coronavirus was most alive when the species was discovered”, He said.
During his investigation, Ibrahimi also mentioned that the Lumbardhi i Deçanit River, where the species was found, had deteriorated severely in recent years due to the construction of a hydroelectric plant.