Home > Facts > National Parks Facts > Corcovado National Park Facts

Corcovado National Park Facts

Corcovado National Park Facts
Corcovado National Park is a 164 square mile park located on Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica's southwest region. The park was created after logging became a threat in the 1970s. President Daniel Oduber created Corcovado National Park to protect the area, which covers one-third of Osa Peninsula. Gold miners that had been allowed to stay when the park was created were evicted in the 1980s. Conservation efforts for the park have increased in recent years to protect against over-exposure to tourism. Visitors to Corcovado National Park must be accompanied by certified guides as of 2014.
Interesting Corcovado National Park Facts:
In Spanish, Corcovado National Park is 'Parque Nacional Corcovado'.
Osa Peninsula is the most diverse area of its size of any place on earth.
Efforts to protect Corcovado National Park and Osa Peninsula involve many agencies including The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, WWF - United States, Organization of American States, Catholic Relief Service and the governments of several countries including the U.S. Costa Rica, Sweden, and Holland.
Corcovado National Park encompasses the only old growth wet forests of Central America's Pacific Coast still remaining today.
There are 13 ecosystems in Corcovado National Park. These ecosystems include beach habitats, coastal marine habitats, mangrove swamps, lowland rain forest, highland cloud forest, and jolillo palm forest.
Corcovado National Park has 23 miles of beaches.
Corcovado National Park has many endangered species including white-lipped peccaries (hog like creature), red-backed squirrel monkeys, harpy eagles, scarlet macaws, Baird's Tapirs, and jaguars.
Wildlife found in Corcovado National Park also includes neotropical river otters, tayras, brown pelicans, speckled caimans (crocodile), spider monkeys, hermit crabs, anteaters, margays, pumas, two-toed and three-toed sloths, raccoons, and the most commonly seen animal - the white-nosed coati (raccoon family).
Hammerhead sharks can be found in schools in some areas but nobody has ever reported being attacked by them.
Bull sharks and crocodiles can be found in Corcovado Lagoon.
There are four species of sea turtles that next in Costa Rica and all of them visit Corcovado National Park's beaches. These include the leatherback, hawksbill, green, and Pacific ridley sea turtle species.
There are more than 40 different frog species in Corcovado National Park, including poison species. There are also 28 lizard species, dozens of snake species, and over 400 bird species.
There are more than 10,000 insect species found in Corcovado National Park.
The largest population of scarlet macaws in Costa Rica is found in Corcovado National Park.
Some tree species that can be found in the park include the cow tree, crabwood, poponjoche, purple heart, and espave.
The clay in Corcovado National Park is very slippery when it is wet and visitors are encouraged to wear hiking boots to help avoid falls.
Mosquitos can be a big nuisance to visitors of the park, and they are often not deterred by Deet, which is the main ingredient in many mosquito repellants.
National Geographic referred to Corcovado National Park as, "the most biologically intense place on Earth." Its location, connecting South America and North America, allows for such extreme diversity and the 13 ecosystems that thrive within its boundaries.


Related Links:
Facts
National Parks Facts
Animals Facts