Tatamá National Natural Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tatamá National Natural Park |
|
|---|---|
| PNN Tatamá | |
|
IUCN Category II (National Park)
|
|
 Tatamá National Natural Park
Location in Colombia
|
|
| Location |  Colombia |
| Nearest city | Pueblo Rico |
| Area | 51,900 ha (200 sq mi) |
| Designation | National Natural Park |
| Established | 1987 |
| Administrator | SINAP |
Tatamá National Natural Park (in Spanish: Parque Nacional Natural Tatamá) is a special nature park in the Western Mountain Range of Colombia. It was created in 1987 to protect a huge area of land.
The park covers about 51,900 hectares (that's like 128,248 football fields!). It has different types of forests, from warm tropical rainforests to cooler cloud forests. It also has a unique high-altitude area called a páramo. The park stretches across three different regions in Colombia: Risaralda, Chocó, and Valle del Cauca.
Tatamá Park is very important for science because it has so many different kinds of plants and animals. Its natural areas are also very well preserved. Rivers like the San Juan and Cauca start here. The highest part of the park is called Páramo Tatamá. This páramo is one of only three in Colombia that humans have not changed. Inside the park is Cerro Tatamá, the tallest mountain in the Western Mountain Range, reaching 4,100 meters (about 13,451 feet) high!
Contents
Amazing Plants and Animals
.jpg)
Tatamá National Natural Park is a true treasure chest of nature. It's home to an incredible variety of plants and animals.
Wonderful World of Orchids
More than 560 types of orchids grow in the park. Many of these orchids are endemic, which means they are found only in this area. For example, the Montezuma maxillaria orchid grows here and nowhere else in the world!
Birds, Birds, Birds!
If you love birds, Tatamá is the place to be! Over 620 different kinds of birds have been seen here. Sixteen of these birds are found only in Colombia. Seven of them live only in the Western Mountain Range. Some of the special birds you might find include:
- Colombian Chachalaca
- Chestnut Wood-Quail
- Dusky Starfrontlet
- Grayish Piculet
- Yellow-eared Parrot
- Parker's Antbird
- Chamí Antpitta
- Tatama Tapaculo
- Munchique Wood-Wren
- Red-bellied Grackle
- Crested Ant-Tanager
- Black-and-Gold Tanager
- Gold-ringed Tanager
- Multicolored Tanager
- Turquoise Dacnis
- Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer
How to Visit Tatamá Park
Getting to Tatamá National Natural Park is an adventure! You can only get there by using Montezuma Road. This is a dirt road that starts in the town of Pueblo Rico. The road goes up Cerro Montezuma to a military base at the top, which is 2,600 meters (about 8,530 feet) high.
Near the park's entrance, there's a place called Montezuma Rainforest Ecolodge. This lodge is the main starting point for people who want to explore the protected area.
