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Cueva de los Guacharos
The Cueva de los Guacharos National Park, created in 1960, is the oldest of the 51 protected areas of Colombia. The park is located in the western face of the Colombian Eastern Andean Range (Cordillera Oriental) in the departments of Huila and Caqueta. It covers an area of 90 km2 corresponding to the karstic zones of the Magdalena and Caqueta Rivers.
The park is intended to protect the cloud forest and paramo ecosystems. This area hosts one of the last intact oak forests in the country (with the native oak species Quercus humboldtii, Bonpland, Fagaceae, and Colombobalanus excelsa, ).
The park was named after the nocturnal guacharo bird , which lives in caves in the park.
Biodiversity
Research to determine the exact number of species in the area is inadequate for a complete statement. Some recorded species are:
Mammals
Birds
With 296 registered species to the date.
Environmental issues
Settlements for agriculture and cattle; timber industry and hunting
Illegal crops such as coca and opium poppy (heroin)
References
INDERENA, 1984. Colombia. Parques Nacionales. Fondo para la Proteccion del Medio Ambiente Jose Celestino Mutis. FEN Colombia. Bogota. 264 pp.
Grzimek, Bernhard, 1979. Tierleben. Enzyklopadie des Tierreiches. Band 4-13 . DTV. Munchen. ISBN 3-423-03206-5
External links
Parques Nacionales de Colombia-Parque Nacional Natural Cueva de Los Guacharos official website
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Cueva de los Guacharos
