Huascarán National Park
Encyclopedia
Huascarán National Park is a national park
in the Cordillera Blanca
, a range of the Andes
, in Ancash of central Peru
. It was also pronounced as Natural Heritage of Humanity and recognized as Reserve of Biosphere Core. The highest mountain in Peru is located in the park (also named Huascarán
, reaching 6,768 meters high). This park is the habitat of the Puya raimondi, the Cougar, the Jaguar
, the Llama
, the Guanaco, the Marsh Deer
, the Peruvian Tapir
, the Peruvian Piedtail
, a hummingbird
species, and many kinds of duck
s including the Southern Pochard
.
and fauna
, geological
formations, archaeological
remains (including relics of the Chavin culture
), and the panoramic scenery of the Cordillera Blanca, and to encourage scientific research into the area's natural and cultural resources. Tourism is promoted in the area, making its protected status a source of wealth for its inhabitants and others. In 1985 the park was declared a World Heritage Site
by UNESCO.
, the mountain from which the park takes its name, is the highest in Peru at 6768 m, and rises above nearby peaks such as Alpamayo
and Pisco
.
The park's 3,000 km² contain 663 glacier
s, 296 lake
s and 41 tributaries
of three important river
s: the Santa
, Pativilca and Marañón
.
of the park is characterized by two stages during the year. This depends on two major factors: the warm, humid wind
s from the Amazon Basin
, which generate abundant rain
between December and March; and a pronounced dry period between May and October, with sunny days that reach 25 °C and nights of intense cold during which temperatures can drop below 0 °C, and well below that at higher altitudes.
in the west to the Peruvian Yungas
in the east, with Central Andean wet puna
in the higher elevations. It is home to considerable biodiversity
, with over 779 species
of high Andean plants and 112 species of bird
s having been identified, including the Andean Condor
(Vultur gryphus), the Torrent Duck
(Merganetta armata), and the Puna Tinamou
(Tinamotis pentlandii). Amongst mammal
s, more than ten species have been observed, several of them endangered
, such as the Colocolo
(Oncifelis colocolo), the Andean Cat
(Oreailurus jacobita), the Spectacled Bear
(Tremarctos ornatus), Peruvian Guemal (Hippocamelus antisensis), and the Vicuña
(Vicugna vicugna).
In the area of Catac
, there are the famous Puyas Raimondi
. These plants are mainly located in the spacious forests from three places of Ancash: the gully of Ingenio in Catac
, the punas of Cajamarquilla
and the gully of Queshque, also in Catac
.
The Puyas Raimondi
was named in this way in homage to the Italian wise person who discovered it. This plant is a gigantic inflorescence
that is unique all over the world. It reaches up to 10 m height, with more than three thousand flowers and six million seeds in each plant. Its biological cycle is approximately 40 years.
, although there are peaks which attract the most dedicated climbers. As well as this, ecotourism
, horse
riding, skiing
and guided archaeological excursions are all popular.
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
in the Cordillera Blanca
Cordillera Blanca
The Cordillera Blanca is a mountain range in the Ancash Region of Peru. Part of the larger Andes range, it includes 33 major peaks over high in an area wide and long.-Overview:...
, a range of the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
, in Ancash of central Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
. It was also pronounced as Natural Heritage of Humanity and recognized as Reserve of Biosphere Core. The highest mountain in Peru is located in the park (also named Huascarán
Huascarán
Huascarán or Nevado Huascarán is a mountain in the Peruvian province of Yungay, situated in the Cordillera Blanca range of the Western Andes. The highest southern summit of Huascarán is the highest point in Peru, and all the Earth's Tropics...
, reaching 6,768 meters high). This park is the habitat of the Puya raimondi, the Cougar, the Jaguar
Jaguar
The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...
, the Llama
Llama
The llama is a South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since pre-Hispanic times....
, the Guanaco, the Marsh Deer
Marsh Deer
The Marsh Deer, Blastocerus dichotomus , is the largest deer species from South America reaching a length of and a height of at the rump. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay...
, the Peruvian Tapir
Brazilian Tapir
The South American Tapir , or Brazilian Tapir or Lowland Tapir or Anta, is one of four species in the tapir family, along with the Mountain Tapir, the Malayan Tapir, and Baird's Tapir...
, the Peruvian Piedtail
Peruvian Piedtail
The Peruvian Piedtail, Colibri De Hartert, or ColibrÍ Colipinto Peruano is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family.It is found only in Peru....
, a hummingbird
Hummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds that comprise the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm Bee Hummingbird. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings...
species, and many kinds of duck
Duck
Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...
s including the Southern Pochard
Southern Pochard
The Southern Pochard is a duck.There are two subspecies, the South American Pochard N. e. erythrophthalma and the African Pochard N. e...
.
Protected status
Its protection was initially arranged by the Peruvian government in 1975 in order to safeguard floraPlant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
and fauna
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
, geological
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
formations, archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
remains (including relics of the Chavin culture
Chavín culture
The Chavín were a civilization that developed in the northern Andean highlands of Peru from 900 BC to 200 BC. They extended their influence to other civilizations along the coast. The Chavín were located in the Mosna Valley where the Mosna and Huachecsa rivers merge...
), and the panoramic scenery of the Cordillera Blanca, and to encourage scientific research into the area's natural and cultural resources. Tourism is promoted in the area, making its protected status a source of wealth for its inhabitants and others. In 1985 the park was declared a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
by UNESCO.
Physical environment
Huascarán National Park is home to mountains ranging from 2000 to over 6000 m in height. HuascaránHuascarán
Huascarán or Nevado Huascarán is a mountain in the Peruvian province of Yungay, situated in the Cordillera Blanca range of the Western Andes. The highest southern summit of Huascarán is the highest point in Peru, and all the Earth's Tropics...
, the mountain from which the park takes its name, is the highest in Peru at 6768 m, and rises above nearby peaks such as Alpamayo
Alpamayo
Alpamayo is one of the most conspicuous peaks in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range of the Peruvian Andes.It is a steep , almost perfect pyramid of ice, one of a number of peaks that compose the Santa Cruz massif, the northernmost massif of the Cordillera Blanca...
and Pisco
Nevado Pisco
Nevado Pisco is a mountain in Peru, located in the Cordillera Blanca about 60 km north of Huaraz. Nevado Pisco was first climbed on July 12, 1951 by C. Kojan, G.Kojan, R.Leininger and M. Lenoir....
.
The park's 3,000 km² contain 663 glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s, 296 lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
s and 41 tributaries
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of three important river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
s: the Santa
Santa River
The Santa River is a river in the South American Andes cordillera in the Ancash Region of northwest central Peru.-River Course:Laguna Conococha, at an altitude of 4050 m above sea level and at , is considered the headwaters of the Rio Santa. Laguna Conococha itself is fed by small streams from the...
, Pativilca and Marañón
Marañón River
The Marañón River rises about 160 km to the northeast of Lima, Peru, flows through a deeply-eroded Andean valley in a northwesterly direction, along the eastern base of the Cordillera of the Andes, as far as 5 degrees 36' southern latitude; then it makes a great bend to the northeast, and...
.
Climate
The climateClimate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
of the park is characterized by two stages during the year. This depends on two major factors: the warm, humid wind
Wind
Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...
s from the Amazon Basin
Amazon Basin
The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...
, which generate abundant rain
Rain
Rain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to non-liquid kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Rain requires the presence of a thick layer of the atmosphere to have temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth's surface...
between December and March; and a pronounced dry period between May and October, with sunny days that reach 25 °C and nights of intense cold during which temperatures can drop below 0 °C, and well below that at higher altitudes.
Flora and fauna
The environment in the park ranges from the Sechura DesertSechura Desert
The Sechura Desert is located south of the Piura Region of Peru along the Pacific Ocean coast and inland to the foothills of the Andes Mountains...
in the west to the Peruvian Yungas
Peruvian Yungas
The Peruvian Yungas is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in the Yungas of Peru.-Setting:The Peruvian Yungas occur on the eastern slopes and valleys of the Peruvian Andes...
in the east, with Central Andean wet puna
Central Andean wet puna
The Central Andean wet puna is a montane grasslands and shrublands ecoregion in the Andes of Peru and Bolivia.-Setting:This ecoregion occurs above and consists of high-elevation, wet, montane grasslands amid lakes, plateaus, valleys, and high mountains. It is bordered on the west by the Sechura...
in the higher elevations. It is home to considerable biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
, with over 779 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of high Andean plants and 112 species of bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s having been identified, including the Andean Condor
Andean Condor
The Andean Condor is a species of South American bird in the New World vulture family Cathartidae and is the only member of the genus Vultur...
(Vultur gryphus), the Torrent Duck
Torrent Duck
The Torrent Duck is a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae. It is the only member of the genus Merganetta. Today it is placed in the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae after the "perching duck" assemblage where it was formerly assigned to was dissolved because it turned out to be...
(Merganetta armata), and the Puna Tinamou
Puna Tinamou
The Puna Tinamou, Tinamotis pentlandii also known as Pentland’s Tinamou is a member of the most ancient groups of bird families, the tinamous. This species is native to southern South America.-Taxonomy:...
(Tinamotis pentlandii). Amongst mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s, more than ten species have been observed, several of them endangered
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
, such as the Colocolo
Colocolo
Colocolo may refer to:*Colocolo , a Mapuche tribal chief.*Colo Colo creature of the Mapuche mythology.*Colocolo , a South American cat native to Chile.*Colo-Colo, a Chilean football team....
(Oncifelis colocolo), the Andean Cat
Andean Cat
The Andean Mountain Cat is a small wild cat. It is one of only two felids for which no subspecies have been classically described. Fewer than 2500 individuals are thought to exist. This cat is one of about two dozen small wild cat species found around the world...
(Oreailurus jacobita), the Spectacled Bear
Spectacled Bear
The spectacled bear , also known as the Andean bear and locally as ukuko, jukumari or ucumari, is the last remaining short-faced bear and the closest living relative to the Florida spectacled bear and short-faced bears of the Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene age.The spectacled bear is a...
(Tremarctos ornatus), Peruvian Guemal (Hippocamelus antisensis), and the Vicuña
Vicuña
The vicuña or vicugna is one of two wild South American camelids, along with the guanaco, which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes. It is a relative of the llama, and is now believed to share a wild ancestor with domesticated alpacas, which are raised for their fibre...
(Vicugna vicugna).
Puya Raimondi
Catac District
Catac District is one of ten districts of the province Recuay in Peru.-References:...
, there are the famous Puyas Raimondi
Puya raimondii
Puya Raimondi, also known as Queen of the Andes is an endemic species of the altoandina zone of Bolivia and Peru, found at an altitude of 3200 – 4800 m...
. These plants are mainly located in the spacious forests from three places of Ancash: the gully of Ingenio in Catac
Catac District
Catac District is one of ten districts of the province Recuay in Peru.-References:...
, the punas of Cajamarquilla
Cajamarquilla District
Cajamarquilla District is one of ten districts of the province Ocros in Peru.-References:...
and the gully of Queshque, also in Catac
Catac District
Catac District is one of ten districts of the province Recuay in Peru.-References:...
.
The Puyas Raimondi
Puya raimondii
Puya Raimondi, also known as Queen of the Andes is an endemic species of the altoandina zone of Bolivia and Peru, found at an altitude of 3200 – 4800 m...
was named in this way in homage to the Italian wise person who discovered it. This plant is a gigantic inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
that is unique all over the world. It reaches up to 10 m height, with more than three thousand flowers and six million seeds in each plant. Its biological cycle is approximately 40 years.
Activities
It is possible to walk among mountains of over 6000 m in height without being an experienced mountaineerMountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
, although there are peaks which attract the most dedicated climbers. As well as this, ecotourism
Ecotourism
Ecotourism is a form of tourism visiting fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas, intended as a low impact and often small scale alternative to standard commercial tourism...
, horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
riding, skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
and guided archaeological excursions are all popular.