The Guácharo Cave National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Cueva del Guácharo) is located 12 km (7.5 mi) from the town of Caripe, Monagas, Venezuela.
The park’s main attraction is a large limestone cave called Guácharo Cave, which is the longest cave in Venezuela. The cave is a limestone cavern more than 10 km (6.2 mi) long, with several large rooms and rock formations. The temperature inside the cave usually stays near 19 °C (66 °F), and the humidity is always 100%.
The cavern is well-known for being home to thousands of guácharos, or oilbirds, which is how the cave and the park received their names.
History
The cave was a sacred place for the Chaima, one of the native groups living near Caripe in Venezuela. Magicians (piaches) and poisoners (imorons) used the cave to summon Ivorokiamo, the main evil spirit of the Chaima.
— Alexander von Humboldt, Personal Narrative of a Journey to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent
Only the first part of the cave, called Cerro de la Cueva, was entered because that section is where oilbirds live. Oilbirds were hunted each year during an oil harvest. Enough fat was collected from the birds to last for the entire year. Later, when Capuchin monks built a convent in Caripe and missions in nearby areas, they used the oilbird fat collected from the cave to cook their meals.
In 1799, scientist Alexander von Humboldt visited the cave during his scientific journey in the Americas. His descriptions and the data he collected there were the first complete scientific study of the cave. Humboldt was the first person to officially describe oilbirds as a species, naming it Steatornis caripensis, which means "fatbird of Caripe."
In 1949, Guácharo Cave was named Venezuela’s first national monument. The cave and the nearby cloud forest were made a national park in 1975.
Fauna
Oilbirds are fruit-eating birds that live in the first part of the cave. They leave at night to find food. The Spanish name "guácharo" sounds like the noise they make, which is similar to a loud cry. They are brown with black and white spots, have long tails, and bristles around their beaks. They are about 48 cm (19 in) long, including their tails. Guácharos create a layer of organic material in the cave called guano, made from their waste and seeds they vomit. This material provides nutrients for the cave's ecosystem.
The most important event in the park happens each evening when the sun sets. At this time, the birds leave the cave in large groups to search for food. Visitors can watch the birds as they exit the cave.
There are 367 bird species in the national park, which is recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA). The oilbird is not endangered, but other birds in the park are, such as the Venezuelan flowerpiercer and the Venezuelan sylph. The national park is part of the Cordillera de Caripe Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) site, along with another IBA called the Zona Protectora Macizo Montañoso del Turimiquire.
Other bird species in the park include the Andean cock-of-the-rock, white-tailed trogon, military macaw, swallow-tailed kite, chestnut-fronted macaw, Amazonian motmot, ornate hawk-eagle, scarlet-fronted parakeet, and black-and-white hawk-eagle.
The park is home to many animals, such as ocelots, pacas, collared peccaries, giant anteaters, and eyelash vipers. Red howler monkeys are often heard in the trees. Other animals found in the park include the bush dog, giant armadillo, and spectacled bear, which is the only bear species in South America. The critically endangered Orinoco crocodile, one of the most endangered crocodile species in the world, lives in the park's rivers.