Amazon Wilderness Facts: #
The Colombian Amazon is home to giant otter, neotropical otter, ocelot, cougar and jaguar.
It’s also home to more than to 8 species of primates, including the white-fronted capuchin, tufted capuchin, common squirrel monkey, Spix’s night monkey, brown woolly monkey and Colombian red howler monkey. Additionally there are armadillos in the genus Dasypus, the giant anteater, black agouti, lowland paca, Amazon river dolphin, white-lipped peccary and the Brazilian tapir.
The Colombian Amazon, holds over 1,801 plant species. The tropical moist forests here are highly developed, with some trees reaching up to 40 meters (130 feet) tall. Common trees include the Amazon tree-grape (Pourouma cecropiifolia), guamo (Inga acrocephala), ucuuba (Virola sebifera), syringe tree (Hevea guianensis), and capinuri (Pseudolmedia laevis). The dense undergrowth hosts a wide variety of parasitic and epiphytic plants. In the mountainous areas, shrubs between 12 and 15 meters (39 and 49 feet) grow on sandy soil. Waterfalls and rocky surfaces with sparse soil cover are home to many endemic plants, including the monotypic genus Senefelderopsis, Hevea nitida var. toxicodendroides, Graffenrieda fantastica, and Vellozia tubiflora.
With 209 species of butterflies, 238 fish species, 57 amphibian species, 60 reptile species, over 410 bird species, and 82 mammal species in Colombia’s Amazon region. Many of these species are threatened and endemic to the region. Chiribiquete in particularly is notable for its high levels of endemism among amphibians and freshwater fish. The region also boasts about 30% of the bat diversity in the Colombian Amazon and 10% of the country’s butterfly diversity.
Notable birds in the Colombian Amazon include the Guianan cock-of-the-rock, scarlet macaw, green-and-rufous kingfisher, Amazon kingfisher, ringed kingfisher, rufous motmot, oilbird, and the endemic Chiribiquete emerald hummingbird. Other significant species include various tinamous, curassows in the genus Crax, and motmots in the genus Momotus. The harpy eagle and speckled chachalaca are also commonly seen as is the Hoatzin Bird.
