Weekend Window: El Yunque, Puerto Rico

ByABC News via logo
November 25, 2006, 2:01 PM

Nov. 26, 2006 — -- El Yunque, a forest in a Puerto Rican mountain range, begins about 300 feet above sea level and goes to 3,500 feet.

"We have a very, very rich environment," said Cynthia Manfred, an interpreter at the Caribbean National Forest. "It's tropical and it's wet. We have snails. We have reptiles."

The forest is known for housing the Puerto Rican parrot and tiny Coqui frogs, which are named after the sound they make.

"The Puerto Rican parrot is considered critically endangered due to its low numbers in the wild and in captivity," said Marisel Lopez, a biologist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "In 1973 there were only 13 birds in the wild. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a program in captivity to increase the numbers and for further releases."

El Yunque is dominated by water, with waterfalls everywhere.

"For the people of Puerto Rico, El Yunque has been loved. It's considered mysterious where nature rules," Manfred said. "Everybody finds, somehow, a spiritual connection to El Yunque."