Cerro Hoya National Park is a protected area in southwestern

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

Geography

It is located in the southwestern portion of the

Azuero Peninsula Azuero Peninsula ( es, Península de Azuero) is a large peninsula in southern Panama. It is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean in the south; the Pacific and Gulf of Montijo to the west, and by the Gulf of Panama in the east. The peninsula is effectiv ...

. Cerro Hoya () is the highest peak in the park, and the park's namesake. The park also contains

Punta Mariato Punta Mariato or Mariato Point (Spanish ''Punta Mariato'') is a cape in western Panama and is the southernmost point on the mainland of North America

, the southernmost point of mainland North America. The park protects portions of two ecoregions. The Isthmian-Pacific moist forests cover the lowlands and foothills of the peninsula, while the

Talamancan montane forests The Talamancan montane forests ecoregion, in the tropical moist broadleaf forest biome, are in montane Costa Rica and western Panama in Central America. Setting The Talamancan montane forests cover a discontinuous area of in Cordilleran mountain ...

cover higher elevations above approximately 950 meters elevation, including Cerro Hoya.Cerro Hoya
Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA) Explorer. Accessed 30 January 2023. The montane forests cover 77 km² of the park. These montane forests are an outlier, separated by over 150 km from the main montane forest block further north in the Central Cordillera of Panama and Costa Rica.Miller, Matthew & Angehr, George & Ridgely, Robert & Klicka, John & López Ch, Oscar & Araúz, Jacobo & Campos, Euclides & Buitrago Rosas, Daniel. (2015). Annotated checklist of the birds (Aves) of Cerro Hoya National Park, Azuero Peninsula, Panamá. Checklist. 11. 1585. 10.15560/11.2.1585.

Fauna

225 Species of birds have been recorded in the park. These include populations of

crested eagle The crested eagle (''Morphnus guianensis'') is a large Neotropical eagle. It is the only member of the genus ''Morphnus''. The crested eagle can grow up to long, with a wingspan up to , and weigh up to . The plumage varies between a light br ...

(''Morphnus guianensis''),

Azuero dove The Azuero dove or brown-backed dove (''Leptotila battyi'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to Panama. Taxonomy and systematics The Azuero dove, the grey-fronted dove (''Leptotila rufaxilla'') and pallid dove ('' ...

or brown-backed dove (''Leptotila battyi''),

great green macaw The great green macaw (''Ara ambiguus''), also known as Buffon's macaw or the great military macaw, is a Central and South American parrot found in Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador. Two allopatric subspecies are rec ...

(''Ara ambiguus''), and

three-wattled bellbird The three-wattled bellbird (''Procnias tricarunculatus'') is a Central American migratory bird of the cotinga family. The sexes are very dissimilar in appearance. The male has a white head and throat and the remaining plumage is chestnut brown. F ...

(''Procnias tricarunculatus''), great curassow (''Crax rubra''), and

scarlet macaw The scarlet macaw (''Ara macao'') is a large red, yellow, and blue Central and South American parrot, a member of a large group of Neotropical parrots called macaws. It is native to humid evergreen forests of the Neotropics. Its range extends from ...

(''Ara macao''). The park and its neighboring areas are the sole habitat of the Azuero parakeet (''Pyrrhura picta eisenmanni''), which has a total range of only 700 km².BirdLife International (2023
Important Bird Areas factsheet: Cerro Hoya National Park
Accessed 30 January 2023. Native mammals probably include the

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

(''Panthera onca''), puma (''Puma concolor''),

jaguarundi The jaguarundi (''Herpailurus yagouaroundi'') is a wild cat native to the Americas. Its range extends from central Argentina in the south to northern Mexico, through Central and South America east of the Andes. The jaguarundi is a medium-sized ...

(''Herpailurus yagouaroundi''),

ocelot The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Two subspecies are recognized. It is native to the southwes ...

(''Leopardus pardalis''),

Neotropical river otter The Neotropical otter or Neotropical river otter (''Lontra longicaudis'') is an otter species found in Mexico, Central America, South America, and the island of Trinidad. It is physically similar to the northern and southern river otter, which ...

(''Lontra longicaudis''), Panamanian night monkey (''Aotus zonalis''),

Azuero howler The Azuero howler (''Alouatta coibensis trabeata'') a type of monkey that is a subspecies of the Coiba Island howler ''A. coibensis''. This subspecies is endemic to the Azuero Peninsula in Panama. The Azuero howler is distinguished primarily by ...

(''Alouatta coibensis trabeata''), Central American spider monkey,

Panamanian spiny pocket mouse The Panamanian spiny pocket mouse (''Heteromys adspersus''), also known as Peter's spiny pocket mouse, is a species of Heteromyidae, heteromyid rodent endemic to Panama. It is very closely related to Salvin's spiny pocket mouse, and has been plac ...

, and Darien harvest mouse. The frog ''

Craugastor azueroensis ''Craugastor azueroensis'' is a species of frog in the family Craugastoridae. It is endemic to Panama's Azuero Peninsula. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and rivers be ...

'' has been recorded.

References

{{reflist National parks of Panama Isthmian–Pacific moist forests Talamancan montane forests Veraguas Province Protected areas established in 1984 1984 establishments in Panama