Virocona Imperial Park

Virocona Imperial Park
IUCN category II (national park)
Location	Southwest Caphiria
Area	285.4 km2 (110.2 sq mi)
Designated	November 5, 1980

Virocona Imperial Park is a national park located in the southwest highlands of Caphiria. Virocona Park covers 285 km2 between 3100m and 4450m above sea level offers a tundra vegetation on a jagged landscape of hills and valleys.

Geography and climate

The highest point is the 4,450 m high turris architecti (Tower of the Architects), and the elevation of roads reaches higher than 4,310 meters (13,550 feet). About 270 lakes and lagoons are present in the Catelegnian Moorlands. Lake Sanerino is the largest of these lakes and extends over 78 hectares with a maximum depth of 68 m at a perimeter of 5,161 m. Like the other lakes it is of glacial origin, and glaciation shaped the landscape of Virocona leaving U-shaped valleys and ravines. Water from Virocona provides about 60% of the drinking water for the area.

The climate shows an average temperature of 15.2 °C and an average annual precipitation of 1,372 mm. Clouds typically drift up from the Kindred's coast and bring humidity.

Ecology

Flora

Humidity and high altitude with low atmospheric pressure create an ecosystem that accumulates organic material in the soil that is able to retain water. The high grassland ecosystem (Catelegno) contains plants suitably adapted to it, 19 of them endemic to Virocona Park. The dominant plant is straw grass (Calamagrostis intermedia).

Above 3,300 meters the quinoa (Polylepis) or "paper tree" forest is found. It is in forests such as these that a second protected population of the rare Fuchsia campii, in the family Onagraceae, is predicted to live, as it has also been found in another nearby national park of similar ecological characteristics.

In the lower parts of the park, the cloud forest and perennial high mountain forest are present, primarily in the ravines near the brooks and rivers.

Animals

Virocona Imperial Park is home to a large variety of animals, some of which are endemic or highly endangered. Among the most prominent are the Latin Condor, of which only a few hundred remain throughout all Caphiria; the curiquinga, a large black and white raptor, and the largest hummingbird of the world, the giant hummingbird (Patagona gigas), which lives only on agave flowers. The violet-throated metaltail (Metalura gorjivioleta) is endemic to Virocona Park and surrounding valleys. The avifauna consists of 157 bird species, making bird watching an alluring activity for visitors.

Overall, forty-four mammalian species have been identified in the park. Species include types of opossums, cats, and bats. Also there are pumas, coatis, weasels, skunks, foxes, porcupines, pacas, shrews, rabbits and other rodents. Endemic are the Viroconan water mouse (Chibchanomys orcesi) that belongs to the group Ichthyomyini and Tate's shrew opossum (Caenolestes tatei).

At least seventeen species of amphibians live around the lagoons of Virocona. This includes those of the genera Atelopus, Telmatobius, Gastrotheca, Eleutherodactylus, and Colostethus. The high variety of amphibians suggests the presence of a diversity of insects, as they are a chief amphibian food source.

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