Cabañeros National Park (in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

: ''Parque Nacional de Cabañeros'') is a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

in the

Montes de Toledo The Montes de Toledo are one of the main systems of mountain ranges in the Iberian Peninsula. They divide the drainage basin of the Tagus from the basin of the Guadiana. The highest peak is high La Villuerca. Description The Montes de Toledo are ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It falls within two provinces, the northwest of

Ciudad Real Ciudad Real (, ; en, "Royal City") is a municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It is the 5th most populated municipality in the region. History It was founde ...

and the southwest of Toledo. The Park was designated in 1995 and has an area of . It lies between the Estena and Bullaque rivers, extending into the Chorito and Miraflores mountain ranges. It is the best and largest surviving area of Iberian Mediterranean forest, with an enormous variety of plant species. It also includes sites of geological interest (

Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...

sites known as ''Cámbrico y Ordovícico del Parque Nacional de Cabañeros'').Gutiérrez-Marco, J.C.; García-Bellido, D.C.; Rábano, I.; Baeza Chico, E.; Sá, A.A. & Sarmiento, G.N. 2011. Geotouristic trails in the Cabañeros National Park (central Spain), pp. 125--128. In: Geotourism in Action. Proceedings of the International Congress of Geotourism–Arouca 2011, Arouca (Portugal). The

antipodes In geography, the antipode () of any spot on Earth is the point on Earth's surface diametrically opposite to it. A pair of points ''antipodal'' () to each other are situated such that a straight line connecting the two would pass through Ear ...

of the park are located in

Tongariro National Park Tongariro National Park (; ) is the oldest national park in New Zealand,Department of Conservation"Tongariro National Park: Features", retrieved 21 April 2013 located in the central North Island. It has been acknowledged by UNESCO as a World H ...

in New Zealand.

Fauna

The fauna of the park is notable, both for its variety (276 species of vertebrates) and for the high percentage of

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

. Mammals include the

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes wea ...

in the Estena river and four species of ungulates:

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

and (in the most forested areas)

fallow deer ''Dama'' is a genus of deer in the subfamily Cervinae, commonly referred to as fallow deer. Name The name fallow is derived from the deer's pale brown colour. The Latin word ''dāma'' or ''damma'', used for roe deer, gazelles, and antelopes, ...

. The park is potentially a habitat for the

Iberian lynx The Iberian lynx (''Lynx pardinus'') is a wild cat species endemic to the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. In the 20th century, the Iberian lynx population had declined because of overhun ...

, a critically endangered feline. However, lynx have been sighted only intermittently in the area in recent years, perhaps because of a shortage of rabbits, the main prey species. The Toledo Mountains have been used as a site for the reintroduction of the lynx as part of a

LIFE Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

project. The Park is a

Special Protection Area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cert ...

for birdlife, Downloaded from on 11/01/2014 and provides a home for the following notable species: *

Black stork The black stork (''Ciconia nigra'') is a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. Measuring on average from beak tip to end of tail with a wingspan, t ...

(rare but not threatened) *

Eurasian black vulture The cinereous vulture (''Aegypius monachus'') is a large raptor in the family Accipitridae and distributed through much of temperate Eurasia. It is also known as the black vulture, monk vulture and Eurasian black vulture. With a body length of , ...

(near threatened), second largest breeding population *

Spanish imperial eagle The Spanish imperial eagle (''Aquila adalberti''), also known as the Spanish eagle or Adalbert's eagle, is a species of eagle native to the Iberian Peninsula. The binomial commemorates Prince Adalbert of Bavaria. Due to its distinct “epaulet ...

(threatened)

Geology

In addition to the fauna and flora, Cabañeros has a third unique resource: its geology. In towns such as Navas de Estena you can visit areas with fossils from more than 400 million years ago, in the Ordovician, when this territory was sea. The fossilized remains of the activity of the oldest giant worm discovered to date have recently been found in the Boquerón de Estena. The predominant geological materials in the terrain are quartzite and, to a lesser extent, slate. Some rocky outcrops in the park are proposed as a "Global Geosite" (place of Spanish geological interest of international relevance) by the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain, with the name "PZ004: Cambrian and Ordovician of the Cabañeros National Park" within the group of geological contexts “Lower and Middle Paleozoic Stratigraphic Series”.

Conservation issues

The national park aims to develop sustainable tourism. In theory there is a ban on hunting at Cabañeros, as at other Spanish national parks. However, some hunting has been allowed for purposes of "population control" (as opposed to sporting purposes).

Notes

External links

Official Page National Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabaneros National Park National parks of Spain Special Protection Areas of Spain Protected areas established in 1995 Protected areas of Castilla–La Mancha Geography of the Province of Ciudad Real Geography of the Province of Toledo Montes de Toledo