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The 14,175 hectares (35,000 acres) national park park
includes savannas, coastal dunes, and mangroves. Local fauna include
white egrets, iguanas, crocodiles, shrimp and freshwater crabs.
Canoes, or lanchas, take travelers for 2-hour
tours of the mangroves from the town of Zapotalito on the eastern
side of the park. Request a visit to Cerro Hermoso beach where you
can swim and snorkel. There is a scientific research center where
researchers breed crocodiles.
CROCS
The native species of crocodile in the region is the American
crocodile (Crocodylus acutus); however, most of the specimens held
in captivity at Lagunas de Chacagua are Morelet's crocodile (Crocodylus
moreleti), also known as Central American crocodile (cocodrilo de
pantano).
This species is not native to the Pacific Coast -- its natural
distribution is along the Gulf of Mexico drainage including coastal
areas and the Yucatán Peninsula into Belize and Guatemala.
It was brought in for farming and some crocs escaped and established
a population in the wetlands.
BIRD WATCHING
Chacahua is great for bird-watching. The best months to visit are
the March and April, the nesting seasons of wood storks and roseate
spoonbills.
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