Canaima National Park

Canaima National Park () is a  park in south-eastern Venezuela. It is in about the same place as the Gran Sabana region. It is in Bolívar State, next to Brazil and Guyana. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

History
Canaima National Park was made into a park on 12 June 1962.
As early as 1990, the countries in the Amazonian Cooperation Treaty decided to make this park bigger so it would meet Monte Roraima National Park in Brazil.

In 1994, the Canaima National Park was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The International Union for Conservation of Nature looked at this park in 2017, and it listed Canaima National Park as an area of significant concern: It said it was doing a bad job of protecting the living things in the park.

Location

Canaima National Park is the second largest park in Venezuela, after Parima-Tapirapecó, and it is the sixth biggest national park in the world. It is about the same size as Belgium or Maryland. The park protects part of the Guayanan Highlands moist forests.

The most famous tepuis in the park are Mount Roraima and Auyantepui. The tepuis are sandstone. They are so old that, when they first existed, South America and Africa were part of the same big continent.

Indigenous people live in the park. They are called the Pemon Indians.

The park has only a few roads to towns. To travel inside the park, most people walk, canoe, or use small airplanes.

 Animals

Canaima has many animals. Among the species found are:

 Giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus)
 Giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis)
 Giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla)
 Cougar (Puma concolor)
 Jaguar (Panthera onca)
 Linnaeus's two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus)
 White-faced saki (Pithecia pithecia)
 Brown-backed bearded saki (Chiropotes israelita)
 Roraima mouse (Podoxymys roraimae)
 Tyleria mouse opossum (Marmosa tyleriana)
 Harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja)
 Red-shouldered macaw (Diopsittaca nobilis)
 Dusky parrot (Pionus fuscus)
 Yellow-banded poison dart frog (Dendrobates leucomelas)
 Hummingbirds (Trochilinae)
 Toucans (Ramphastidae)
 South American bushmaster (Lachesis muta)
 Green acouchi (Myoprocta pratti)
 Bush dog (Speothos venaticus)
Canaima National Park is among one of several dozen regions in Venezuela that has been identified as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBAs) by BirdLife International, a global cooperative of non-governmental organizations focused on the conservation of the world’s birds and their natural habitats.

 Plants

There are over 300 different species of plants that only live in La Gran Sabana. The park has carnivorous plants in it. These are plants that eat animals, usually insects.
 Endemic flora includes Achnopogon, Adenanthe, Chimantaea, Mallophyton, Quelchia, Tepuia.
 Endemic carnivorous plants include the Heliamphora (South American pitcher plants) and Brocchinia (a type of bromeliad), as well as several local species of Drosera (sundews), Genlisea (corkscrew plants) and Utricularia (bladderworts).

 Water 

The park has the entire watershed of the right bank of the Caroní River and two of the highest waterfalls in the world, Angel Falls and the Kukenán. It also has many lower waterfalls.

 Land forms 
The only land forms are the tepuis. These are plateaus. The tops of the plateus have many plants and animals. These plateaus are between 1.5 and 2 billion years, which makes them one of the oldest formations in the world.Lindsay Elms. "Mount Roraima: An Island Forgotten by Time". Accessed 11 December 2022.Otto Huber and John J. Wurdack (1984)
History of Botanical Exploration in Territorio Federal Amazonas, Venezuela. Smithsonian Institution Press, City of Washington.

 Places to visit 

 West 
 Lagoon of Canaima
 El Sapo and El Sapito Falls
 Yuri Falls
 Mayupa Rapids
 Pozo de la Felicidad (Pit of the Happiness) (Saró Marú)
 Orquídea Island
 Ratón Island
 Angel Falls or Korepakupai Vená
 Ayan-tepui
 Kavac Indian village Cave Uruyén
 Kamarata Indian village
 Wareipa Indian community
 El Encanto Falls
 Avak Indian community
 Roberto Beach
 Kanwaripa Indian community
 Caroní River
 La Maloca Indian village
 Kukenán Falls (in the Tepui Kukenán or Matawí)

 East 
 La Piedra de La Virgen (The rock of the virgin)
 El Danto Falls
 La Arenaria
 Monumento al Soldado Pionero
 Aponwao I River
 Tarotá Baths
 Toroncito Ravine
 Toron merú Falls
 Karuay Falls
 Chinak merú Falls (Aponwao falls)
 Parupa
 Anotén
 Chivatón Falls Mission of Kavanayen
 Kamoirán Rapids
 Kama merú Falls
 Arapán merú (Pacheco Ravine)
 Soruapa River or Woimeri
 San Francisco de Yuruaní (Kumaracapai) Indian Community
 Jasper Creek (Kako Parú or Jaspe Ravine)
 Urué merú
 Kukenán Bridge River
 Paraitepui Indian Community of Roraima
 Wonkén Indian Community
 Mount Roraima.

In the 1990s, Canaima National Park had about 100,000 tourists each year, with 90% visiting its tepuis.

 Movies 
The movie Arachnophobia happens in a not-real town called Canaima. Some of the movie was made in the park.

 Pictures 

Other articles
La Gran Sabana

References

 Other website 

 Official information about the Canaima National Park
 UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre
 Official UNESCO website entry
 Canaima National Park
 Protected Planet Page for Canaima 

Category:National parks
Category:World Heritage Sites
Category:Venezuela