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::: CANAIMA NATIONAL PARK
(VENEZUELA) |
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CANAIMA PARK
Located in the extreme southeastern part of
Venezuela
(associated with the Gran Sabana), on the
Guiana Shield, in the jurisdiction of the Piar,
Sifontes, and Gran
Sabana municipal districts of
Bolívar state. It was created on
June 12, 1962 with a surface area of 1,000,000
ha. and expanding to 3,000,000 ha. in 1975,
making it
one of the
largest in the world |
The park occupies the north-eastern sector of the Guiana
Shield, which is part of the igneo-metamorphic base
with rocks that date between 900 million and 3.5 billion
years old, on which you can find the quartz and
siliceous conglomerates of
Roraima.
The predominant formations consist of a combination of
tepuis, grasslands, and valleys. Amongst these tepuis
are:
Auyan-Tepuy
(2.400 m), from which
Angel Falls
(Karepaku-pa merú), the highest waterfall in the
world, originates with a drop of 979 m;
Roraima
(2.800 m); Chimata (2.700 m); Kukenán (2.600 m) and
about 34 more tepuis. The vegetation on these tepuis
varies from humid tropical forests at the bases and
hillsides, to shrubs and grasslands on the summit, with
a diverse amount of endemic species; in the savannahs
and valleys the grasses and moriche palms prevail, with
the presence of gallery forests. The fauna varies
greatly, amongst them, the giant anteater, the jaguar,
the giant otter, foxes, and howler monkeys; amongst the
bird species, the harpy eagle, the Merlin falcon, the
thick-billed parrot and the hummingbird. Remains of a
significant pre-Hispanic indigenous population have been
found in the park; at the present time, the ethnic
indigenous community of the Pemóns, with the
subgroups the Kamaracotos, Taurepans, and Arekunas, live
in this territory. Their territory was recognized in
the 18th century by the Catalan Capuchin missionaries.
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Los Tepuyes:
The Tepuis are one of a kind colossus that
populate the entire park. They are ancient
mountains with unique characteristics, the only ones
in the world, and on its summits you can find
amongst many other things, endemic flora of
scientific interest. We can also point out that in
some cases they can be as old as 3 billion years,
practically back to the time of the beginning of the
planet.There are some 50 tepuis in
Canaima National Park. |
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Fauna:
The wildlife in the park is extremely varied,
which is also widespread due to the multiple
environmental factors such as height and type of
vegetation. Amongst the species found here are:
The southern tamandua, the white-lipped
peccary, the Guianan squirrel, the puma, the
deer, the three-toed sloth, the weasel, the
crab-eatting fox, the owl monkey, the
black-capped capuchin, rats, the giant anteater,
the giant otter, the jaguar and the wildcat.
Reptiles include the chameleon, the iguana, the
yellow-footed tortoise, serpents such as the
false coral, green vine snake, anaconda, false
mapepire, and poisonous snakes like the coral
snake, mapepire, bushmaster and rattlesnake.
There are also numerous species of frogs and
toads. For bird species we can cite the red and
blue macaw, the brown-throated parakeet, the
king vulture, the white bellbird, the
hummingbird, capuchin bird, Guianan
cock-of-the-rock, toucans etc.
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Vegetation:
The plant life in Canaima Park is very diverse
and rich in endemic species, meaning that these
species are exclusive to this region. It would
be too long a list to name them all here, which
is why we only mention the most important ones:
Bonettia Roraimae, Bonetias of the tepuis,
Bochinea Reducta, Brochinea Micrantha, Clusias,
Droseras, Heliamphoras, Stegolepis Guyanensis,
Orectanthes, Euterpes (palms), Thibaudias,
and a long etc., since in the park there exist a
large amount of plant species that we are
collecting and exhibiting shortly.
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