Puracé National Natural Park
The Puracé National Natural Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Natural Puracé) is a national park. It is in the Andes mountains in Colombia. It is southeast of the city of Popayán in the Cordillera Central mountain range. The active volcano Puracé, is in the park.[1][2] Four of the country's most important rivers originate within the area:[3] Magdalena River, Cauca River, Japurá River and Patía River.[4]
| El Parque Nacional Natural Puracé | |
|---|---|
| Puracé National Natural Park | |
IUCN category II (national park) | |
 | |
  | |
| Nearest city | Popayán, Colombia |
| Coordinates | 2°12′N 76°21′W / 2.200°N 76.350°W |
| Area | 830 km2 (320 sq mi)[1] |
| Established | 1961[1] |
| Governing body | SINAP |
General
changePeople made this place into a park in 1961. It was the first national park in the Cauca Department.[1][4] During the 1990s, the FARC army camped in the park, but they do not do this so much any more because, in 2002, President of Colombia Álvaro Uribe, sent another army to fight them.[4]
The only active volcano in the area is Puracé. It is 4,580 metres (15,030 ft) high above sea level. The Paletará valley is at the bottom of the mountain. There are two bigger volcanoes in the park, Azúcar (5,000 m (16,000 ft)) and Coconuco (4,600 m (15,100 ft)), and four more between 4,400 m (14,400 ft) and 4,500 m (14,800 ft) high, but they are not active volcanoes.[5]
People go to the park through Popayán, capital of the Department of Cauca. They get there on the Pan-American highway. Then they take the road to the town of Puracé. From Puracé, they go to a place called "El Crucero," and then to Pilimbalá. Or people can go to the park from an old Colombian police base 4000 meters above sea level, through the Puracé's sulfur mines.
Climate
changeDuring the day, the highest temperatures are between 14 and 16 °C (57 and 61 °F), and the coldest are below 0 °C (32 °F).[4] About 2,500 millimetres (98 in) of rain falls every year. There is frost high in the hills above 3,000 m (9,800 ft), especially above 4,200 m (13,800 ft).[6]
Animals and plants
changeOver 200 orchid flower plants grow in the park.[6] The Colombian pine, Andean oak, and Wax palm tree all grow in the park.[5][7] More than 160 species of birds live in the park, for example hummingbirds, ducks, and birds that eat meat.[7] Many mammals live in the park, for example the spectacled bear, mountain tapir, wooly monkey, howler monkey, tufted capuchin, cougar, and pudú.[1][4] The San Diego Zoo helped bring Andean condors back to the park in the 1990s.[4][8]
Gallery
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People
changeThe Coconuco indigenous people live in the Pilimbalá area. Visitors can go there to visit and buy food. The Guambiano people live nearby.
Footnotes
change- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Puracé National Park". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
- ↑ "Puracé". Global Volcanism Program. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
- ↑ Villegas & Sesana 2007, p. 133
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Caputo, Newton & McColl 2009, p. 424
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Parque Nacional Natural Puracé" (in Spanish). Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Villegas & Sesana 2007, p. 134
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Naturaleza y Ciencia del Parque Nacional Natural Puracé" (in Spanish). Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
- ↑ Villegas & Sesana 2007, p. 137
References
change- Caputo, Lorraine; Newton, Paula; McColl, Richard (2009), Viva Travel Guides Colombia, Viva Publishing Network, ISBN 978-0-9791264-4-4.
- Villegas, Benjamin; Sesana, Laura (2007), Colombia Natural Parks, Villegas Asociados, ISBN 978-958-8156-87-3.
Other websites
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Media related to Puracé National Natural Park at Wikimedia Commons- The park's page at Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia (in Spanish)
- Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Popayán
- Information about Puracé in the Global Volcanism Program
