Evening star., 1953-10-19
Weird Jungle Offers .
Its Riches for Study
'Shrouded Forest Is Mode
Reservation in Venezuela
BY Thomos R. Henry

One of earth's weirdest regions is the
"shrouded forest"
It is the bat-filled jungle that covers
large areas of the Seaward slopes of
Venezuela'S Maritime Andes. Through
out this dense forest a strange white
mist rises from the moisture soaked
earth to envelope everything like
Shroud.
This shrouded forest is essentially
without human inhabitants. It has an
extremely rich animal life-gigantic
spiders spinning monStrous webs in its
liana-laced trees. deadly serpents such
as the mapanare and green cock,
SlothS, many varieties Of New World
monkeys. brilliantly colored humming
birds, parrots and mountain lions.
Law of Tooth and Claw.
It is, like all dense jungle, a dark
and sunless place of oppressive silence
during the day. for its denizens, living
by the jnngles inexorable law of tooth
and claw, avoid drawing attention to
themselves by any sound. When night
falls, the forest teens with millions Of
black and gray bats many of which,
like the humming birds. seek flowers
with the richest nectar rather than
insects which are the ordinary prey
of their kind.
Under the shade of the giant trees
grow all sizes of ferns from tiny va
rieties to some which reach the height
of a two-Story house. Orchids of all
colors are plentiful in the treetops.
This jungle is paradise for natural
lists and collectors. 1t still is only
partially explored and may be expected
to yield many as yet unknown varieties
of plants and animals, although prob
ably all the more conspicuous and
fantastic types have been described.
Among the most notable of the
neutrality-suspicious. of this region was
the former Agriculture Department
scientist, Swiss-born Henry Pittier, who
spent the last 81 years of his life in
Venezuela. Pittier, who died in 1850,
became one of his adopted countrys
greatest scientists.
In his honor the Venezuelan govern
ment has just set aside large tract of
the shrouded jungle as wild-life pre-
serve and national park. Under this
arrangement it will be preserved. per-
petually as a part Of the primeval
jungle for the benefit of naturaliSts
from all over the world who have been
invited to carry out researches there.
The 210,000-acre Henry Pittier Ma
tional Park straddles the coastal range
for distance of 80 miles. 1t extends
down to the sea and includes part of
the large freSh-water Lake Valencia.
The area may be divided into three
Sections-park-like forest on top of the
mountains, thick jungle on the slopes.
and waSteland on the plains near the
sea. Tt includes areas of Sword-graSS
covered savanna thorn woodland and
cactus scrub. The Shrouded jungle,
however, is the place of greatest Scien-
tific interest.
Study of Natural Resources.
The greater part of the area is gen.
orally sub-tropical throughout the year.
It is cool and very damp throughout the
year because of the great miSt-cap.
The average humidity recorded during
expeditions in both the dry and rainy
seasons Is 92.4 per cent and the average
temperature for the entire year about
"a Fahrenheit.
The area is considered an ideal place
for biological studies at the time before
it becomes-as it is feared it will be-
come eventually--a region for tourists.
Apart from purely scientific studies,
observations made in the park are ex-
pected to throw light on conservation
of natural resources on similar zones
throughout the tropics. The old bio
logical laboratory established by Pittier
is being expanded and herbarium is
being built up. More than 100 varieties
Of insects, some of them hitherto un-
- known to science, have been collected
from the park.