Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

's Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park is located in the Chapada dos Veadeiros, an ancient plateau

Plateau

In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...

with an estimated age of 1.8 billion years. Based in the Brazilian state of Goias

Goiás

Goiás is a state of Brazil, located in the central part of the country. The name Goiás comes from the name of an indigenous community...

, the Park was created on January 11, 1961 by President Juscelino Kubitscheck, and listed as a World Heritage Site

World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

by Unesco

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

in 2001. It occupies an area of 655 square kilometres and is maintained by IBAMA

Ibama

Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources is the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment's enforcement agency...

Climate

The average yearly temperature is 24-26 degrees Celsius, ranging from a minimum of 4-8 degrees Celsius and reaching a maximum of 40-42 degrees Celsius.

Altitude

With altitudes between 600 and 1650 meters, it is the highest plain in Central Brazil. The highest point of the park and of the state of Goiás is Serra da Santana, at 1691 meters above sea level.

Rock formations

Its rock formations are one of the oldest on the planet. There are quartz with outcrops of crystals. These rocks are exported and appreciated in Japan and England, where for some decades they were used for industrial work. Nowadays therapists and nature lovers seek energies and the power to cure from the crystals and from places like Alto Paraiso

Alto Paraíso

Alto Paraíso is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rondônia. Its population was 15,993 and its area is 2,652 km²....

.
Rock crystals are present in the soil of the rich Cerrado

Cerrado

The Cerrado, is a vast tropical savanna ecoregion of Brazil, particularly in the states of Gioas and Minas Gerais...

, or open pasture. Forest growth is also still found in the region, where more than 25 species of orchids can be found, besides other Brazilian species such as Pau d'Arco Roxo, Copaíba (Copa Tree), Aroeira (California pepper tree), Tamanqueira (Cork Tree), Jerivá (a variety of Palm Tree), Buritis (Wine-palm) and Babaçu (Babassu).
The main river in the park is the Rio Preto, a tributary of the Tocantins River

Tocantins River

The Tocantins is a river in Brazil, the central fluvial artery of the country. In the Tupi language, its name means "toucan's beak" . It runs from south to north for about 2,640 km. It is not really a branch of the Amazon River, although usually so considered, since its waters flow into the...

. Along its course, there are many waterfalls, such as the Rio Preto Falls (120 meters high, 80 meters at the base) and the Cariocas Falls. The canyons are just as beautiful, with walls of up to 40 meters high and valleys of up to 300 meters.

List of waterfalls

In the National Park there are the 120 m Waterfall, the 80 m Waterfall, the Corredeiras, Cannyon I, Cannyon II, the Carioquinhas Waterfall and the Jardim de Maitréya. In properties with controlled access: Águas Quentes, Morada do Sol, Banho das Crianças and Vale das Andorinhas, Salto do Raizama and Cannyon do Rio São Miguel, Vale da lua, Cachoeiras Almécegas I and Almécegas II, Cachoeira de São Bento, Cataratas do Rio dos Couros, Cachoeira do Rio Cristal, Cachoeira dos Anjos e dos Arcanjos, Água Fria, Cachoeira do Rio das Almas, Poço Encantado, Sertão Zen, Cachoeira do Rio Macaco, Território Kalunga, Lago Serra da Mesa, Bocaina do Faria, Cachoeira das Neves, Mirante do Pouso Alto, Alpes Goianos, Cachoeira do Santana, Cachoeira da Ave Maria, Morada do Sol, Pedra Escrita, Cachoeira das Pedras Bonitas, and Ponte de Pedra.

The local fauna

The rich fauna of the region includes species threatened by extinction such as the pampas deer

Pampas Deer

Pampas deer, Ozotoceros bezoarticus, live in the grasslands of South America at low elevations. They are also known as Venado or Gama. Their habitat includes water and hills, often with winter drought, and grass that is high enough to cover a standing deer...

(locally known as veado campeiro), marsh deer

Marsh Deer

The Marsh Deer, Blastocerus dichotomus , is the largest deer species from South America reaching a length of and a height of at the rump. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay...

(cervo do pantanal), maned wolves

Maned Wolf

The maned wolf is the largest canid of South America, resembling a large fox with reddish fur.This mammal is found in open and semi-open habitats, especially grasslands with scattered bushes and trees, in south, central-west and south-eastern Brazil The maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) is the...

(lobo guará), jaguar

Jaguar

The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...

, and others like the rhea

Rhea (bird)

The rheas are ratites in the genus Rhea, native to South America. There are two existing species: the Greater or American Rhea and the Lesser or Darwin's Rhea. The genus name was given in 1752 by Paul Möhring and adopted as the English common name. Möhring's reason for choosing this name, from the...

(ema), seriema

Seriema

The seriemas are the sole extant members of the small and ancient family Cariamidae, which is also the sole surviving family of the Cariamae. Once believed to be related to cranes, they have been placed by one recent study near the falcons, parrots and passerines, as well as the extinct terror birds...

, tapeti

Tapeti

The Tapeti , also known as the Brazilian Rabbit or Forest Rabbit, is a cottontail rabbit species found in Central and South America....

, giant armadillo

Giant Armadillo

The giant armadillo , colloquially tatou, ocarro, tatu-canastra or tatú carreta, is the largest living species of armadillo...

(tatu canastra), anteater

Anteater

Anteaters, also known as antbear, are the four mammal species of the suborder Vermilingua commonly known for eating ants and termites. Together with the sloths, they compose the order Pilosa...

(tamanduá), capybara

Capybara

The capybara , also known as capivara in Portuguese, and capibara, chigüire in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador ronsoco in Peru, chigüiro, and carpincho in Spanish, is the largest living rodent in the world. Its closest relatives are agouti, chinchillas, coyphillas, and guinea pigs...

(capivara), tapir

Tapir

A Tapir is a large browsing mammal, similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile snout. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia. There are four species of Tapirs: the Brazilian Tapir, the Malayan Tapir, Baird's Tapir and the Mountain...

(anta), green-beaked toucan

Toucan

Toucans are members of the family Ramphastidae of near passerine birds from the Neotropics. The family is most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five genera and about forty different species...

(tucano de bico verde), black vulture

American Black Vulture

The Black Vulture also known as the American Black Vulture, is a bird in the New World vulture family whose range extends from the southeastern United States to Central Chile and Uruguay in South America...

(urubu), and the king vulture

King Vulture

The King Vulture is a large bird found in Central and South America. It is a member of the New World vulture family Cathartidae. This vulture lives predominantly in tropical lowland forests stretching from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, though some believe that William Bartram's Painted...

(urubu rei).

Many endangered species are found within the park's boundaries, such as the maned wolf

Maned Wolf

, capybara

Capybara

s, rhea

Rhea (bird)

s and others.

External links

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