Cueva de los Guácharos

This article is about a Colombian national park. For the similarly-named cave and national park in Monagas, Venezuela, see Cueva del Guácharo National Park.
Cueva de los Guacharos
IUCN category II (national park)
Map showing the location of Cueva de los Guacharos
Location Departments of Huila and Caqueta, Colombia
Nearest city Florencia, Caqueta, Colombia
Coordinates 1°33′N 76°8′W / 1.550°N 76.133°W / 1.550; -76.133Coordinates: 1°33′N 76°8′W / 1.550°N 76.133°W / 1.550; -76.133
Area 90.78 km²
Established November 9, 1960
Governing body SINAP

Cueva de los Guácharos National Park (English: Cave of the Oilbirds)[1] is the oldest national park in Colombia. Located in the western face of the Colombian Eastern Andean Range in the departments of Huila and Caquetá, the park covers an area of 9,000 hectares (90 km2; 35 sq mi).[2][3] The caves formed from the karstic zones of the Magdalena and Caquetá rivers.[4][5]

The park is intended to protect the cloud forest and páramo ecosystems. This area hosts one of the last intact oak forests in the country, with the native oak species Quercus humboldtii (Bonpl.) and Trigonobalanus excelsa (Lozano, 1979)).

Biodiversity

In 2005, the National Natural Parks System identified 296 registered species of birds in the park.[6] Further recorded species are:

Biodiversity in Cueva de los Guácharos
Species Family Common name Range Conservation status
Lagothrix lagotricha lugens (Humboldt) Cebidae/Atelinae churuco monkey High Amazon valley
Cebus apella (Linné) Cebidae/Cebinae corn monkey Andes\Amazonas
Ateles paniscus (Linné) Cebidae/Atelinae marimonda mid and low Amazon valley
Mazama americana (Erxleben) Cervidae/Odocoileinae páramo deer Neotropic
Mazama rufina (Lesson) Cervidae/Odocoileinae páramo deer
Pudu mephistophiles (De Winton) Cervidae/Odocoileinae rabbit deer North andean: N Ecuador- S Colombia
Tapirus pinchaque (Roulin) Tapiridae páramo tapir North andean: N Ecuador- Colombia threatened

References

  1. ↑ Hilty, Steven L.; Brown, Bill (1986). A Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Princeton University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-691-08372-8.
  2. ↑ Bonell, Francisco (12 October 2011). "El Parque Nacional Cueva de Los Guácharos cumplió 50 años" [The Cueva de los Guácharos National Park turned 50]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). Casa Editorial El Tiempo S. A.
  3. ↑ "Descripción del Área" [Description of Area] (in Spanish). Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  4. ↑ Grzimek, Bernhard (1979). Animal Live, Volume 10: Mammals (in German). ISBN 978-3-423-03206-3.
  5. ↑ Granados, Marta (1984). Colombia, Parques Nacionales [Colombia, National Parks] (in Spanish). Fondo para la Protección del Medio Ambiente Jose Celestino Mutis.
  6. ↑ "Plan de Manejo Parque Nacional Natural Cueva Los Guacharos" [Management Plan: National Natural Park Cueva Los Guacharos] (PDF) (in Spanish). National Natural Parks System. 2005. p. 56.
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