Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WILDLIFE AND ECOLOGY
From the high peaks of the Andes to the tropical rainforests of the Amazon, the
Pantanal wetlands and the arid scrub of the Gran Chaco, Bolivia's extraordinary range
of geography and climates supports an astonishing array of plant and animal life. This
is one of the most biodiverse countries on earth, home to more than 17,000 known plant
species, around 1400 different birds, including many species found nowhere else, and
around three hundred species of mammals. Moreover, large areas are still relatively un-
disturbed by human activity, and around twenty percent of the total land area is now
covered by national parks and other protected areas.
The Andes
The Bolivian Andes are home to a huge range of ecological zones, from cactus-strewn semi-
desert to swampy moorland and lush cloudforest. Much of the region has been settled for
over two thousand years, and the original woodland has largely been replaced by eucalyptus
importedfromAustralia.ButpatchesofnativeAndeanforestremain,including
qeñua (poly-
lepis) woods
that survive at over 5000m - the highest forests in the world. The most visible
animals in the Andes are domesticated, in particular the herds of
llama
and
alpaca
which
graze the arid grasslands of the Altiplano, but in more remote regions their wild relative, the
diminutive
vicuña
, can also be seen.
Large predators are rare, but the
puma
is still present at most altitudes. Its preferred prey in-
cludes Andean deer and
viscacha
, a rabbit-like animal. The more humid eastern slopes of the
Andes are also home to the elusive
spectacled bear
, the only bear in South America. Though
difficult to view close up, the revered
Andean condor
- with a 3m wingspan, the largest bird
that canfly-canoftenbeseen soaring athighaltitudes (attheopposite endofthescale, there
are 83 species of
hummingbird
in Bolivia). The margins of Lago Titicaca and other high-
altitude lakes and marshes attract a great variety of swimming and wading birds, including
ibis, grebes, geese, herons and - particularly in the far south of the Altiplano - three different
species of
flamingo
, the Andean, the Chilean and the James's.
The Amazon
The greatest biodiversity in Bolivia - and indeed pretty much anywhere on earth - is found
on the well-watered eastern slopes of the Andes, where the mountains plunge down into the
Amazon basin through a succession of different ecological zones, from the high
cloudforest
or
ceja de selva
- whose gnarled trees are festooned with hundreds of different kinds of
orch-
id
- to the lowland tropical rainforest. With mighty trees soaring to create a canopy over 30m
above the ground, the rich and luxuriant vegetation of the
Amazon rainforest
is in fact ex-
tremely fragile. The soils beneath forest are generally very poor, and the forest ecosystem
