Cerro Castillo National Park is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

located in the Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region, south of

Coyhaique Coyhaique (), also spelled Coihaique in Patagonia, is the Capital (political), capital List of cities in Chile, city of both the Coyhaique Province and the Aysén Region of Chile. Founded by settlers in 1929, it is a young city. Until the twentiet ...

. The park is named after Cerro Castillo, its highest mountain and main attraction. The

Carretera Austral The Carretera Austral (CH-7, ''in English: Southern Way'') is the name given to Chile's Route 7. The highway runs south for about from Puerto Montt to Villa O'Higgins, passing through rural Patagonia. Carretera Austral provides road access to ...

passes through the park.

History

Named a national reserve in 1970, Cerro Castillo was recategorized a National Park as part of an agreement between the Chilean government, under President

Michelle Bachelet Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (; born 29 September 1951) is a Chilean politician who served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2014 to 2018, becoming the first woman to hold the presidency. She was re-elected in December ...

and Tompkins Conservation in 2018.

Ecology

Mammals in the park include the endangered

South Andean deer The south Andean deer (''Hippocamelus bisulcus''), also known as the southern guemal, south Andean huemul, southern huemul, or Chilean ''huemul'' or '' güemul'' ( , ), is an endangered species of deer native to the mountains of Argentina and Ch ...

guanaco The guanaco ( ; ''Lama guanicoe'') is a camelid native to South America, closely related to the llama. Guanacos are one of two wild South American camelids; the other species is the vicuña, which lives at higher elevations. Etymology The gua ...

s, pumas, chingue ( Molina’s hog-nosed skunk), and canines of the genus ''

Lycalopex The South American foxes (''Lycalopex''), commonly called ''raposa'' in Portuguese, or ''zorro'' in Spanish, are a genus inhabiting South America. Despite their name, they are not true foxes, but are a unique canid genus more closely related t ...

''. Notable birds that inhabit in the area are the

Andean condor The Andean condor (''Vultur gryphus'') is a South American New World vulture and is the only member of the genus ''Vultur''. It is found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America. With a maximum wingspan of and ...

and black-chested buzzard eagles in the mountains, and austral parakeets, thorn-tailed rayaditos, Magellanic woodpeckers, churrín del sur ( Magellanic tapaculo), and the chucao tapaculo. Lenga and ñirre are the most common tree species in the reserve, though evergreen species like the coigüe de Magallanes are also present. The northern portion of the park is part of Aisén River

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

, whereas that the southern portion is included in the basin area of Ibáñez River.

Rewilding

Cerro Castillio National Park is a key part of the National Huemul Corridor, a public-private initiative that seeks to reestablish the huemul population using wildlife corridors in key conservation areas along the Route of Parks of Patagonia. Partners for this project includ
Rewilding Chile
and CONAF.

References

Protected areas of Aysén Region {{SouthAm-protected-area-stub National parks of Chile Protected areas established in 1970 1970 establishments in Chile