Copo National Park, National park in Santiago del Estero Province, Argentina
Copo National Park covers 118,118 hectares of Dry Chaco forest in the Copo Department of Santiago del Estero Province, northeastern Argentina. Its characteristic tree is the Santiago red quebracho, a hardwood rich in tannin. The park has no visitor infrastructure, though camping is permitted, and the ranger station is at Los Pirpintos.
Santiago del Estero's government created the Copo integral nature reserve by decree on 16 September 1968, on roughly 114,250 hectares of fiscal land. A 1998 agreement with the National Parks Administration led the province to cede the territory in 1999, and national law 25366 of 22 November 2000 made it Copo National Park. In 2007 the adjoining provincial reserve and park were redefined, bringing protected land to about 170,000 hectares.
The park's name comes from the Copo Department, and its emblem shows a maned wolf, a species recorded here among jaguars, giant anteaters and Chacoan peccaries. The reserve began as a provincial natural reserve in 1968, and the quebracho forests it protects were exploited for timber and tannin through the 20th century.
Advance contact with the National Parks Administration is essential to arrange entry and hire a local guide for exploration. Plan ahead as access is limited and conditions change seasonally.
The park's emblem shows a maned wolf, a species listed among its endangered mammals alongside the jaguar, giant anteater, Chacoan peccary and giant armadillo. The Chacoan peccary was only identified in 1974 and is named for eating the fruit of the quimil.
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