Médanos de Coro National Park (''Parque Nacional Los Médanos de Coro'') is a
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
n
national park located in the state of
Falcón
)
, anthem =
, image_map = Falcon in Venezuela.svg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Location within Venezuela
, pushpin_map =
, pushpin_map_alt =
, pushpin_mapsiz ...
, near the city of
Coro on the road that leads to
Paraguaná. The National Park was created in 1974. The park is easily reached by bus or taxi from Coro.
The Médanos park protects part of the
Paraguana xeric scrub ecoregion.
It lies on the
Médanos Isthmus and covers of desert and coastal habitat, including salt marshes. It is made up of three zones: an alluvial plain, formed by the delta of the
Mitare River and some smaller streams; an aeolian plain, composed of three types of dunes; and a littoral plain with a belt of mangrove swamps. The massive sand dunes, known as Médanos, spread over an area of approximately . They can reach in height and are constantly transformed by the unrelenting wind.
Rainfall is rare. However, during the severe floods that struck Venezuela in December 1999 ("
Vargas tragedy
The Vargas tragedy was a natural disaster that occurred in Vargas State, Venezuela on 14–16 December 1999, when torrential rains caused flash floods and debris flows that killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed thousands of homes, and l ...
", being especially devastating in
Vargas State )
, anthem = '' Carmañola Americana''
, image_map = Vargas in Venezuela.svg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Location within Venezuela
, pushpin_map =
, pushpin_map_alt ...
), the heavy rain formed four lagoons in the dunes; a circumstance that the park guards had never witnessed before.
Flora and fauna
Flora consists of little more than thorny shrubs. The park is an
Important Bird Area with some 21 species including
Yellow-shouldered amazon.
[ BirdLife International (2001)]
Important Bird Areas factsheet: Parque Nacional Médanos de Coro
Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 03/02/2015 Other fauna is scarce; the park is home mainly to lizards, rabbits, anteaters and foxes. Visitors can wander amongst the dunes by camel (imported many years ago).
References
External links
Los Medanos
National parks of Venezuela
Deserts of Venezuela
Dunes of Venezuela
Important Bird Areas of Venezuela
Protected areas established in 1974
Tourist attractions in Falcón
1974 establishments in Venezuela
Geography of Falcón
{{Venezuela-geo-stub