Llanos de Challe National Park
Encyclopedia
Llanos de Challe National Park is located on the Pacific coast of the Atacama Region
Atacama Region
The Atacama Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. It comprises three provinces, Chañaral, Copiapó and Huasco. It is bordered to the north by Antofagasta, to the south by Coquimbo, to east with Provinces of Catamarca, La Rioja and San Juan of Argentina, and to west with...

, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

. Park's mountains are moistened by the Camanchaca. Its highest elevation is Cerro Negro at 950 m.

This fragile coastal desert ecosystem is habitat for rare and beautiful plants species, including the threatened Leontochir ovallei, known locally as Garra de León. In addition to, cactus are abundant in the park.

The park is one of the best place for contemplating the natural phenomenon known as Desierto Florido (Flowery Desert), which occurs occasionally as a consequence of El Niño-Southern Oscillation
El Niño-Southern Oscillation
El Niño/La Niña-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, is a quasiperiodic climate pattern that occurs across the tropical Pacific Ocean roughly every five years...

.

The park has the largest population of Guanacos in the Atacama Region. Park's seashore and surrounding area feature unspoiled white sand beaches and a coastal wetland, which shelters Common Moorhen
Common Moorhen
The Common Moorhen is a bird in the Rallidae family with an almost worldwide distribution. The North and South American Committees of the AOU and the IOC have voted on or before July 2011 to split the American forms into a new species Common Gallinule, however, no other committee has voted to...

s, Red-gartered Coot
Red-gartered Coot
The Red-gartered Coot is a species of bird in the Rallidae family. At in length, it is a fairly large species of coot....

s, Black-necked Swan
Black-necked Swan
The Black-necked Swan is the largest waterfowl native to South America. Males are and weigh 4.5-6.7 kg ; females are and weigh 3.5-4.4 kg . The wingspan ranges from . The body plumage is white with a black neck, head and greyish bill. It has a red knob near the base of the bill and...

s and Flamingo
Flamingo
Flamingos or flamingoes are gregarious wading birds in the genus Phoenicopterus , the only genus in the family Phoenicopteridae...

s.
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