Cueva de los Guácharos National Natural Park

The Cueva de los Guácharos National Natural Park is one of the 59 protected areas of the Colombian National Natural Parks system and the oldest, created in 1960. The park covers an area of 90 km², on the western flank of the Eastern Cordillera, in the municipality of Acevedo in the department of Huila, (81%) and another part in the department of Caquetá, in karst areas of tributary basins of the Magdalena and Caquetá rivers.

The Cueva de los Guácharos park protects sub-Andean humid forest biotopes, between 1200-2300 m s. no. m. and Andean, between 2300-3800 m altitude (tropical humid broad-leaved forest biome) and the humid páramo biotope, (tropical montane grassland and chaparral biome), located above 3500-3800 m. The extensive and almost intact areas of Andean oak (Quercus humboldtii Bonpl., Fagaceae) and Colombobalanus excelsa Lozano, Fagaceae, a new species of oak, described in the park in 1979, are one of the fundamental riches of Cueva de los Guácharos.

The park owes its name to the aguacharo (Steatornis caripensis, order Caprimulgiformes, family Steatornithidae), a frugivorous bird, nocturnal that lives in caves and cavities. Its name is onomatopoeic, derived from the Quechua huach and means to scream or cry, due to its characteristic song. This same species gives its name to another natural park: El Guácharo, located in the eastern interior mountains, northeast of Monagas state, Venezuela.

Diversity

There are no known diversity assessments for any taxa in this park. The following tables only list the most outstanding species; the data is taken from various sources and may present contradictions and inaccuracies.

• Mammals: 62 species (??? genera, ?? families).

Diversity of the National Natural Park Cave of the Guácharos

Gender species (author)	Familysubfamily	Vernacular name	Biogeographical range	Conservation status
Lagothrix laketricha lugens (Humboldt)	CebidaeAtelinae	Churuco monkey	High and medium Amazon Basin	?
Cebus apella (Linnaeus)	CebidaeCebinae	Monkey maicero	Andescuenca Amazonas	?
Ateles paniscus (Linnaeus)	CebidaeAtelinae	Marimonda	Middle and low Amazon (!)	?
American Mazama (Erxleben)	CervidaeOdocoileinae	Páramo deer	Neotropics, except Chile, Patagonia	?
M. rufina (Lesson)	CervidaeOdocoileinae	Páramo deer	?	?
Pudu mephistophiles (De Winton)	CervidaeOdocoileinae	Venado conejo	Norandina: N Ecuador- S Colombia	?
Tapirus punaque (Roulin)	Tapiridae	Danta paraamo	Norandina: N Ecuador- Colombia	threatened, vulnerable

• Birds: 296 species (?? genera, ?? families).
• Reptiles: (?species, ?? genera, ?? Families).
• Amphibians (?species, ?? genera, ?? Families).
• Vascular plants (?species, ?? genera, ?? Families).

Park threat factors

• Colonization for agriculture and livestock; sawdust, firewood, poaching, pasture management and farms with fire, tala rasa.
• Sow and coke and poppy processing.
• The lack of maintenance and preservation of the access corridor, where horseshoe paths and footpaths are mixed, are a constant threat from risk of falling and slipping. There are no shade sites for rest or natural hydration points. The traffic inside the caves is not suitable for people without enough training and strength that allows them to use poorly designed cat staircases, without protection or passing, with risk of falling heights above 20 meters.