One national park here houses 11% of the world's bird species

Sep 13, 2012 13:44 GMT  ·  By

Presently home to 200 mammal species, 1,868 vertebrates, 300 different fish types and roughly 12,000 plant species, the Madidi National Park in Bolivia is now argued to be the most biodiverse region in the entire world.

Although environmental scientists and biologists have long been aware of the fact that the natural habitats in this part of the world house countless plant and animal species, it seems that it is only now that a new compendium documenting the wildlife living here was made available to the general public.

According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Madidi National Park owes its being so rich and diverse in terms of plant and animal species to the fact that it has a wide altitudinal range.

Dr. Robert Wallace, one of the specialists who have looked into this issue, explains how, “With Madidi’s almost 6,000-meter (19,685 feet) altitudinal range, no other protected area captures the diversity of South American habitats that pushes these numbers through the ceiling.”

The same source informs us that some of the most amazing animals to be found here are the lowland tapir, the Spix's disk-winged bat and the harpy eagle.

Moreover, this wildlife sanctuary supposedly houses 11% of the world's birds, with only eleven countries surpassing its “achievements” as far as providing suitable living condition for avian species is concerned.

What is even more interesting is the fact that this compendium, which hints at the Madidi National Park as being the most biodiverse region in the world, only documents one third of the park's entire surface.

Therefore, it may very well be that other plant and animal species are still hiding in unexplored regions.

The only bad news is that, like all other natural ecosystems, this wildlife sanctuary stands to be negatively affected by phenomena such as climate change and global warming, meaning that it runs the risk of losing some of the biodiversity it presently houses.