Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve

The Nature Reserve Cuyabeno (Spanish Ecological Reserve Cuyabeno ) comprises 665 800 ha and is located in the Amazon rainforest in the provinces of Sucumbios and Napo in Ecuador. The reserve is named after the Cuyabeno river and bordered to the north by Colombia and eastern Peru. He was recognized in 1979 with the purpose to obtain both the flora and fauna of the area as well as providing a kind of reserve for the people living here indigenous peoples of the Siona and Secoya. Accessible, the reserve is about Lago Agrio destroyed by jungle areas to El Puente and the local park center with canoe along the Cuyabeno River to various Camps ( lodges ) located near the Laguna Grande located (Eng. large lagoon ). The boundaries of the protected area are threatened by oil exploration.

Flora and Fauna

The Ecuadorian Amazon region is hot, humid and rainy. The temperature is from 23 ° C to 26 ° C. At altitudes between 180 m and 300 m and annual rainfall of 3000 to 4000 mm, the humidity is 85 to 95%.

In the tropical rain forest, there is a species-rich vegetation with plants such as palms, bromeliads, ceibos, heliconias, Macrolobium, wild roses and orchids. Many are used medicinally by the native Indians. So far, 60 different species of orchids and 240 different kinds of trees in the reserve were recorded against, next to over 560 different bird species and over 350 species of fish.

Commonly observed species include various species of birds ( Hoatzins, parrots and kingfishers ), monkeys ( anteater, marmoset, tamarin monkeys), caimans, piranhas, turtles, bugs and poisonous dart frogs. Freshwater dolphins, armadillos, anacondas are occasionally sighted. The river system includes the rivers Aguarico, San Miguel and Cuyabeno and their tributaries. Along the Cuyabeno is a system of 14 black water lagoons that are formed by floods in the rainy season of the lowland rain forest of April to July. They are typical of the rainy season and dry during the dry season from December to March from almost complete.

Resident

In the area of ​​various indigenous peoples such as the Huaorani, Shuar, Ashuar, Siona and Secoya, Cofan, zaparo and Quijos live partly still on their traditional way of life and customs.