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Queulat National Park
Queulat National Park is a national park of Chile located in the Aisen Region. The park is bordered by the Cisnes River on the south side and is neighbor to Lago Rosselot National Reserve. It contains of glacier-capped mountains and virgin evergreen forests.
History
In 1766, the Jesuit Father Jose Garcia Alsue explored the area searching for the City of the Caesars.
Park geography
Local relief is dominated by the Patagonian Andes, with some elevations greater than above sea level. A portion of the Puyuhuapi Volcanic Group form part of the park, specifically the area south of the Lake Risopatron. The park comprises two small ice fields, with glaciers of up to long. The largest glaciated area is Queulat ice cap, which encompasses about and contains park's centerpiece, the Queulat Hanging Glacier. This ice cap is centered at , and is at an elevation of . The other ice cap covers an area of approximately and is centered at an unnamed summit at , at an elevation of . The main ice cap borders the northernmost part of the Puyuhuapi Channel called Ventisquero Sound.
Other attractions in the park are the Queulat Sound, Father Garcia and The Condor Falls, and Cat's Stone (Piedra del Gato).
Flora
A characteristic feature of this park is the presence of Valdivian temperate rain forests. Various portions of the park receive up to of precipitation annually. In this wet environment typical trees include coihue and tepa. The understory vegetation consists of species such as tepu, quila, chilco and nalca (a plant with enormous leaves). The Carretera Austral runs through the middle of the park and includes a sector of hairpin turns (Cuesta Queulat), a place where it is possible to appreciate vegetation changes due to differences of elevation.
Fauna
Between the South and North Mountain pass, there are different fauna like Pudu, Kodkod, Chucao Tapaculo, Hummingbird, Chilean Pigeon, Magellanic Woodpecker, Black-throated Huet-huet and Thorn-tailed Rayadito. In the near-shore environment fauna includes Magellan Goose, Southern River Otter, Coypu, Chiloe Wigeon, Yellow-billed Pintail, Red Shoveler, Flying Steamer Duck, Rosybill, Red-gartered Coot, Ringed Kingfisher, Great Egret, White-necked Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Torrent Duck, Sedge Wren, Chilean Flicker, Black-necked Swan and four eyes toad (Pleurodema thaul).
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Queulat National Park
