| Cueva de los Guácharos | |
| Iucn Category: | II |
| Location: | Huila & Caqueta, Colombia |
| Nearest City: | |
| Map: | Colombia |
| Relief: | 1 |
| Coordinates: | 1.55°N -84°W |
| Area: | 90.78km2 |
| Established: | November 9, 1960 |
| Governing Body: | SINAP |
Cueva de los Guácharos National Natural Park (English: Cave of the [[Oilbird]]s)[1] is the oldest national park in Colombia. Located in the western face of the Colombian Eastern Andean Range in the departments of Huila and Caquetá, the park covers an area of 9000ha.[2] [3] The caves formed from the karstic zones of the Magdalena and Caquetá rivers.[4] [5]
The park is intended to protect the cloud forest and páramo ecosystems. This area hosts one of the last intact oak forests in the country, with the native oak species Quercus humboldtii (Bonpl.) and Trigonobalanus excelsa (Lozano, 1979)).
See also: Biodiversity of Colombia. In 2005, the National Natural Parks System identified 296 registered species of birds in the park.[6] Further recorded species are:
| Species | Family | Common name | Range | Conservation status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lagothrix lagotricha lugens (Humboldt) | Cebidae/Atelinae | Churuco monkey | High Amazon valley | |
| Cebus apella (Linnaeus) | Cebidae/Cebinae | corn monkey | Andes\Amazonas | |
| Ateles paniscus (Linnaeus) | Cebidae/Atelinae | marimonda | mid and low Amazon valley | |
| Mazama americana (Erxleben) | Cervidae/Odocoileinae | páramo deer | Neotropic | |
| Mazama rufina (Lesson) | Cervidae/Odocoileinae | páramo deer | ||
| Pudu mephistophiles (De Winton) | Cervidae/Odocoileinae | rabbit deer | North Andean: northern Ecuador to southern Colombia | |
| Tapirus pinchaque (Roulin) | Tapiridae | páramo tapir | threatened |