What Animals and Plants Live in the Atacama Desert
The Atacama region in the northward of Chile is home to the Atacama Desert, the driest desert on Earth, and so y'all might non expect to see a whole lot of animals on your trip. Surprisingly, however, the surface area makes for an unexpectedly varied habitat featuring common salt lakes and greener areas fed by bounding main mists or mountain meltwater. Bank check out our Big five animals to see on your Atacama bout! 
1. Southern Viscacha
It may look for all the world like a slightly disgruntled rabbit, merely the Southern Viscacha is really more closely related to the chinchilla family. Fifty-fifty in the arid Atacama the viscacha is a fairly abundant resident, and then the biggest challenge for visitors hoping to spot one in the wild is to pick out their gray-brown forms confronting the backdrop of the desert'due south grayness-brown rocks. Viscachas are a sociable animal and tend to live in large colonies with a strict hierarchical structure, headed up past the dominant male vizcachón (flick a kind of viscacha Godfather). Y'all're most likely to encounter a viscacha during daylight hours when they emerge from crevices in the the rocks to browse on grass and lichen or to bask in the sun.
ii. Flamingo
Nosotros wouldn't blame y'all if y'all've never thought to wait for a flamingo in the desert, but the surprising fact is that there are really no fewer than three flamingo species that you can run across in the Atacama region. There'south even a dedicated flamingo nature reserve, Los Flamencos National Reserve, located most to San Pedro de Atacama. Visit all year circular to see the largest of the three birds, the Andean Flamingo, in impressive numbers on the Atacama Salt Flat. You may also see Chilean Flamingos on the salt flats, which can be distinguished from the Andean Flamingo since the latter has black tips to the wing feathers whilst the former does non. Finally, during the winter months you may see James Flamingos, the smallest of the bunch with a distinctive xanthous and blackness nib.
iii. Vicugna
The vicugna (pronounced vee-koo-nya!) is a cousin of the better-known llama, but they tend to be smaller and more delicate. They live in the Andes Mountains at altitudes of 3,200 to 4,800 metres, grazing on the plains during the day and heading to the slopes at night. A curious quirk of the vicugna is that it has adapted to beverage the highly salty h2o of the Atacama salt lakes and will fifty-fifty lick rocks to obtain enough salt in its diet. Although it was hunted to near extinction upward until the 1960s, conservation efforts take enabled the wild population to recover to the indicate that the vicugna is now a common sight on any Atacama tour.
4. Culpeo Pull a fast one on
The Culpeo Fox, too known as the Andean Flim-flam, tin be seen throughout Chile including in the parched Atacama region in the north of the state, making it the region's largest predator. Culpeos are opportunistic hunters, which is merely as well as food can exist hard to come up by in the desert. Foxes in the Atacama are largely reliant on lizards and birds also every bit viscacha and will even take a nibble at plants if times are especially tough. Bated from the Culpeo Play a joke on, you might also run across the S American Grey Fox which, equally you lot might imagine, is easily distinguished from the Culpeo due to the gray colour of its fur.
5. Giant Hummingbird
The Giant Hummingbird is an aptly named bird, since it is the largest member of the hummingbird family unit and weighs in at a whopping 8/10ths of an ounce (trust u.s.a., that's pretty hefty as hummingbirds become!). Information technology has the long, needle-like beak typical of many hummingbirds only its feathers are unusually muted in colour and it might even be dislocated for a swallow or a swift if information technology weren't for information technology'southward telltale hovering manner of flying. A top tip if y'all're looking out for the Behemothic Hummingbird is to pay close attention to red-coloured or tubular flowers as these tend to contain nectar with a high sugar content and are a favourite hummingbird food source!
Feeling inspired to go in search of the Atacama's large 5 animals yourself? Head over to Cascada's Atacama and Altiplano tour page for more data on booking your Atacama tour!
What Animals and Plants Live in the Atacama Desert
Source: https://www.cascada.travel/blog/atacama-tours-the-big-5-animals-to-spot
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