The Wonders of the Kanuku Mountains

It is a sanctuary of life, a home to many and a mother to some, beautiful and diverse. The might Kanuku Mountains, located in the south-western part of Guyana in Region 9, cut through the Rupununi and separates the north from the south like an imposing, impenetratable fort - a fort that represents one of the last remaining wilderness areas on earth. A vast area of pristine beauty, it stretches for one hundred kilometers from east to west, and fifty kilometers north to south. This 5000 sq. km mountain range, with peaks as high as 1000 meters (3,000 ft), is home to an abundant diversity of wildlife.

Larger than many Caribbean islands, the "blue mountains" of the savannah are seen asa mother to the people of the region who depend on the "Kanukus" for their existence.

For over 150 years, naturalists have been visiting the Kanuku Mountains, and the area has been recognized as one of the most biologically diverse regions in Guyana with habitats such as gallery forests, lowland forests and montane evergreen forests. Vibrant and abundant with life, the mountains are home to more than 350 species of birds around 50 percent of all the species found in Guyana. Eighty percent of all the species of mammals found in Guyana can also be found there. The variation in landscape and the vast amount of resources have allowed several of the larger species of wild animals to thrive, including those that have disappeared from other regions. At least five of the South American 'giants' live in the Kanuku Mountains: the harpy eagle, black caiman, giant river otter, arapaima fish and the giant anteater.