Calakmul Biosphere Reserve

{{unreferenced|date=February 2009}} [[File:Calakmul2.02.06.w.jpg|thumb|300px|Mayan ruins of Calakmul]] The '''Calakmul Biosphere Reserve''' (''Reserva de la Biosfera de Calakmul'') is located at the base of the [[Yucatán Peninsula]] in [[Mexico]], in [[Calakmul Municipality]] in the state of [[Campeche]], bordering the [[Departments of Guatemala|Guatemalan department]] of [[El Petén]] to the south. It occupies 7,231.85 km² and includes about 12% of the subperennial jungles of Mexico. Its weather ranges from semidry to humid. The Reserve was established in 1989. The Reserve and the contiguous forested areas of the [[Maya Biosphere Reserve]] ''(Reserva de la Biosfera Maya)'' in the Guatemalan department of El Petén form one of the largest and least disturbed tracts of [[rainforest]] in the Americas north of Colombia. The forest is classified as dry forest to the west and tall and medium-height [[Petén-Veracruz moist forests|subperennial rainforest]] to the east. It is remarkable for its small but healthy population of [[jaguar]]s. Other cats ([[jaguarundi]] and [[ocelot]]) also live here. The fauna also includes [[Central American Agouti]]s, [[Geoffroy's Spider Monkey]]s, [[Guatemalan Black Howler]]s, [[Baird's Tapir]], [[White-nosed Coati]]s, [[Ocellated Turkey]]s, [[Crested Guan]]s, [[toucan]]s, and green [[parrot]]s. Among the trees, there are [[ceiba]]s, Honduras Mahogany (''[[Swietenia macrophylla]]''), [[strangler fig]]s (''[[Ficus]]''), chaká (''[[Bursera simaruba]]''), and chicle or chicozapote (''[[Manilkara chicle]]''). The reserve territory is made up of two core areas separated by a highway and connected by a small corridor. This separation is probably a severe limitation to mobility of animals between the two areas. The important [[pre-Columbian]] [[Maya civilization]] archaeological site of [[Calakmul]], one of the largest-known [[List of Maya sites|Maya sites]], is located in the Biosphere Reserve. ==External links== *[http://www.conanp.gob.mx/dcei/didact/CALAKMUL%20PA%20PDF.pdf Mexico's Council on Protected Areas Fact Sheet] *[http://www.calakmul.org/ Friends of Calakmul] {{coord missing|Mexico}}