Kaa-Iya del Gran Chaco National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area
The National Park Kaa Iya del Gran Chaco, is the largest National Park in Bolivia and the second largest national park in South America. It protects the largest remaining remnants of the Gran Chaco dry forests and is home to the largest known single population of Jaguars. The Bolivian Gran Chaco is a dry forest landscape with high temperatures and low rainfall. The vast wilderness is one of the last unspoiled bush and dry forest regions.
Overview
The National Park is located in the southern part of the department of Santa Cruz. It lies on the border with Paraguay in the region of the Gran Chaco. The reserve is located on the northern edge of the Gran Chaco and protects the largest deposit of the remaining dry forests in the Gran Chaco. Overall, the National Park covers an area of 3,400,000 ha ( 34400.00 km ²). The protected area covers an undulating flat plane which is about 300 m above sea level. The average annual rainfall is 700-800 mm, the annual average temperature is around 25 ° C. In the east the territory of the indigenous Guaraní borders the National Park. The most important river is the Río Parapeti.
Vegetation
The dry forests of the National Park are typical of the Gran Chaco. The canopy is about 10 to 15 meters, the understory is dominated by bromeliads and cacti. In the National Park 1,500 plant species have been found.
Fauna
The reserve is home to more than 350 species of animals. A recent study performed with chamber traps came through projections to the conclusion that in the national park area may occur up to one thousand jaguars. So presumably the reserve is home to the world's largest known single population of endangered big cat. In the studied areas were on each one hundred square kilometers in front of about two to five jaguars. Also, the second largest cat in South America, the cougar, is present in relatively high population densities. Furthermore, the National Park is expected to accommodate more than six thousand tapirs, which is surprising much as the dry forests of the area commonly thought of as ideal habitat of these animals. Among the most characteristic of the Chaco dry forest species that are native to Kaa - Iya del Gran Chaco, one of the Chaco Peccary. The park is also home to numerous smaller predators such as ocelots, Geoffroy's Cat, Jaguarundi, Pampas fox and Maikong. It has recently been next to the pampas fox and the Maikong and the bush dog, as a third type of canids, as demonstrated in the National Park. In contrast, the maned wolf is apparently not available. In the southwest of the park lives beyond a population of guanacos. The guanacos of the Gran Chaco are often ( guanicoe Lama voglii ) as a separate subspecies considered.
Population
In the national park there are about twenty - Guaraní communities, but few people live in the impenetrable bushland of the Kaa - Iya National Park.