Peru: Political System
According to DISEASESLEARNING.COM, Peru is a presidential republic. At the head of the state is a president who is directly elected by the people every five years. Re-election has not been possible since 2000. Parliament is a unicameral system. It consists of the congreso. Like the President, the Congreso is elected every five years by free, equal and secret ballot and has had 120 members since January 1, 2005. The head of government is the president elected by the people. The president can dissolve parliament and force new elections. Parliament adopts the budget, votes on contracts with other states and has the opportunity to initiate legislation. See AbbreviationFinder for more information about Peru politics, and acronyms as well.
The official name of the country is:
| República del Perú |
National anthem
The national anthem of a country is usually a piece of music underlaid with a text, which is intended to express the state, lifestyle or national feeling of a country. It is usually played on particularly festive occasions.
The introduction of the national anthems in most European countries goes back to the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The numerous former colonies that had become independent usually introduced their national anthems and also their national flags after independence, i.e. in the second half of the 20th century.
The national anthem of Peru was written by José de La Torre Ugarte in 1822 and set to music by José Bernardo Alcedo.
In spanish language
| RefrainSomos libres, seámoslo siempre
y antes niegue su luces el sol que faltemos al voto solemne que la patria al eterno elevó.Stanzas1. Largo tiempo el peruano oprimido la ominosa cadena arrastró; condenado a una cruel servidumbre largo tiempo en silencio gimió. Mas apenas el grito sagrado ¡Libertad! en sus costas se oyó la indolencia de esclavo sacude, la humillada cerviz levantó.2. Ya el estruendo de broncas cadenas que escuchamos tres siglos de horror, de los libres al grito sagrado que oyó atónito al mundo, cesó. Por doquier San Martín inflamando, libertad, libertad, pronunció, y meciendo su base los Andes la anunciaron, también, a una voz. 3. Con su influjo los pueblos despiertan y cual rayo corrió la opinión; desde el itsmo a las tierras del fuego desde el fuego a la helada región. Todos juran romper el enlace que natura a ambos mundos negó y quebrar ese cetro que España reclinaba orgullosos en los dos. 4. Lima, cumple ese voto solemne, y, severa, su enojo mostró, al tirano impotente lanzando, que intentaba alargar su opresión. A su esfuerzo saltaron los grillos y los surcos que en sí reparó, le atizaron el odio y venganza que heredera de su Inca y Señor. 5. Compatriotas, no más verla esclava si humillada tres siglos gimió, para siempre jurémosla libre manteniendo su propio esplendor. Nuestros brazos, hasta hoy desarmados estén siempre cebando el cañón, que algún día las playas de Iberia sentirán de su estruendo el terror. 6. En su cima los andes sostengan la Bandera o pendón bicolor, que a los siglos anuncie el esfuerzo que ser libres, por siempre nos dio. A su sombra, vivamos tranquilos, y al nacer por sus cumbres el Sol, renovemos el gran juramento que rendimos al Dios de Jacob. |
And in the English translation
| RefrainWe are free, let us always be
and before the sun denies us its light we refuse the solemn vow that our fatherland made to the Almighty.Stanzas1. For a long time the oppressed Peruvian drew an ominous chain after him; condemned to be a cruel servant , he remained silent for a long time. But hardly one heard the holy cry of freedom! on its coast he shook off the slavery’s indolence, humiliated heads rose.2. And already it fell silent, the noise of rough chains that we heard for three centuries of horror and became the holy call of the free, which the world heard speechless. Wherever the enlightened San Martín proclaimed freedom, freedom and considered the Andes as his base, they proclaimed it too, with one voice. 3. Through his influence the villages awaken and the ray that carries the opinion streams into the world of fire and from the fire into the frozen region. All swear to destroy the connection that nature has denied both worlds and to break the scepter that Spain has so proudly established in both. 4. Lima fulfills this solemn oath and, sternly, showed her anger, hurling it at the powerless tyrant who tried to prolong the oppression. With her strength the bonds and the furrows that she healed burst open, they stirred up the hatred and revenge of the heiress of the Inca and her master. 5. Compatriots, no longer seeing her as a slave after she has been humiliated for three centuries, let us swear that she will remain free forever and preserve her own splendor. Our arms, disarmed from today on, should always fill the cannon barrels if one day one can hear fear from the din of the beaches of Iberia. 6. On their peaks the Andes keep the flag, the two-colored banner, which for centuries will proclaim the strength that freedom has given us. In their shadow we will live peacefully and when the sun rises over their tops we renew the great oath we made to the God of Jacob. |
National flag
Based on flag descriptions by Countryaah.com, the national flag symbolizes certain historical developments or special characteristics of their country. Today every country has its own national flag, which is often supplemented by numerous other flags inside.
- Check top-mba-universities for public holidays, sports events, UNESCO world heritage sites and major places to visit in Peru.
Peru: Known People
Visual artist
Amilcar Salomón Zorilla (born 1925)
He is considered one of the most important contemporary Peruvian painters.
Alberto Vargas (1896 – 1982)
He is famous for his pin-up drawings.
Musician
José Bernardo Alcedo (1788 – 1878)
Composer, director general of the Peruvian military bands; he composed the national anthem of Peru “Somos libres, seámoslo siempre” (based on a text by José de la Torre Ugarte 1822).
Juan Diego Flórez (born 1973)
opera singer
Alejandro Núñez Allauca (born 1943)
Composer and accordionist
Yma Sumac (actually Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chavarri del Castillo; born 1927)
Singer
Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco (1644 – 1728)
Composer; In 1701 wrote the Zarzuela “La púrpura de la rosa”, which is considered the first musical stage work in the New World.
Politicians and rulers
Atahualpa (after 1500 – 1533)
the last ruler of the free Inca empire
Túpac Amaru (after 1500 – 1572)
He was the last ruler of the subjugated Inca empire. He fought against the Spanish occupation forces from his mountain fortress Vilcabamba. In 1572 he fell into the hands of the conquerors and was beheaded on September 24, 1572 in the Plaza de Armas in Cuzco.
Fernando Belaúnde Terry (1912-2002)
politician and architect; he was president of Peru twice from 1963 to 1968 and from 1980 to 1985. He was deposed in a coup in 1968 and re-elected in 1980 after a long military rule.
Oscar Raimundo Benavides (1876-1945)
general; President of Peru from 1914 to 1915 and from 1933 to 1939
Guillermo Billinghurst (1851-1915)
Politician; President of Peru from 1912 to 1914. During his presidency, there were violent disputes in the Peruvian Congress over social reforms and the settlement of the Tacna-Arica area dispute with Chile. The conflict ended in a military coup led by Oscar R. Benavides. Billinghurst died in exile in Chile.
José Luis Bustamante y Rivero (1894-1989)
politician, lawyer and writer; President of Peru from 1945 to 1948
Manco Cápac
He is considered the mythical first Inca. He is said to have been the son of the sun god Inti, who created him from the foam of Lake Titicaca. The myth was recorded in the records of the Spanish chronicler Garcilaso de la Vega, among others. It is one of several Incan creation myths.
Manco Cápac II. (Around 1500 – 1544)
He was the first important Inca ruler (1533 – 1544) after the Spanish conquered the Inca Empire. Although he had the title, he no longer had any power over the Inca Empire.
Carlos Ferrero Costa (born 1941)
was Prime Minister and President of the Congress of Peru. Agustín Gamarra (1785 – 1841) General and President of Peru from 1829 to 1833 and from 1838 to 1841 Alan García Pérez (born 1949) lawyer and politician; President of Peru from 1985 to 1990 Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre (1895-1979)
Politician; Founder of the Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana; is considered one of the most important politicians in Peru in the 20th century. He called for universal democracy, equal rights for the indigenous population and a socialist economic policy with collective agriculture and state control of industry. His election as president was prevented twice by the military.
Gustavo Jiménez (1886-1933)
Colonel and politician. After the fall of the government of Augusto B. Leguía in 1930 and brief presidencies of Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro and Ricardo Leoncio Elías Arias, he himself was president for six days (March 5-11, 1931).
Alberto Kenya Fujimori (born 1938)
President of Peru from 1990 to 2000; won the 1990 runoff against the writer Mario Vargas Llosa. During his tenure, he introduced numerous changes to renew the economy of his country (reorganization of the price system, introduction of the new currency Peruvian Nuevo Sol). He established a “government of emergency and national restructuring”, equivalent to dictatorial rule. Under his leadership, terrorist organizations in the country were largely broken up, with many innocent people being tortured and murdered in addition to the guerrillas. Fujimori was removed from office in 2000 for corruption and human rights violations and was arrested in Santiago while attempting to enter Chile.
Augusto Bernardino Leguía y Salcedo (1863-1932)
President from 1908 to 1912 and from 1919 to 1930
Nicolás Lindley López (1908-1995)
General Commander of the Peruvian Army and politician; In 1963,
Vladimiro Lenin Montesinos Torres (born 1945) was head of a military junta head of state of Peru for a few months
; controlled the Peruvian Secret Service (SIN) between 1990 and 2000 under the Alberto Fujimori government. After Fujimori resigned, he fled and was arrested in Venezuela in 2001. He is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence in Peru for drug trafficking, embezzlement, murder and money laundering.
Francisco Morales Bermúdez Cerruti (born 1921)
general and politician; President of Peru from 1975 to 1980
Lourdes Celmira Flores Nano (born 1959)
lawyer and politician; considered a promising candidate for the 2006 presidential elections
Zenón Noriega Agüero (1900 – 1957)
general and politician; was in 1950 formally President of Peru for a short time at the head of a military junta
Manuel Apolinario Odría Amoretti (1897-1974)
general and politician; President of Peru from 1948 to 1956 at the head of a military government
Luis Fernando Olivera Vega (born 1958)
Peruvian Foreign Minister since 2005; Founder and chairman of the Frente Independiente Moralizador (FIM). Olivera is considered an uncompromising investigator of corruption cases. In 2000, for example, he broadcast a video showing Vladimiro Lenin Montesinos Torres handing over a large sum of money to opposition MP Alberto Kouri. He then converted to the electoral alliance loyal to the president in 2000 and secured Alberto Fujimori another election victory. Fujimori had to call new elections and resign from office after the video was released.
Valentín Paniagua Corazao (born 1936)
lawyer and politician from Cusco; from November 22, 2000 to July 28, 2001 he was the interim president of Peru
José Pardo y Barreda (1864 – 1947)
President of Peru from 1904 to 1908 and from 1915 to 1919
Ricardo Pío Pérez Godoy (1905 – 1982)
President of Peru 1962 – 1963 as head of a military junta
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (born 1920)
was the Peruvian ambassador to Switzerland, the Soviet Union and Poland and Venezuela. From 1982 to 1991 he was Secretary General of the United Nations.
Manuel Prado y Ugarteche (1889-1967)
engineer, banker and politician; President of Peru from 1939 to 1945 and from 1956 to 1962
Sinci Roca
the second Inca and son of Manco Cápac; probably from 1230
David Samanez Ocampo y Sobrino (1866 – 1947)
Businessman and politician; President of Peru from March to December 1931, after Augusto B. Leguía was overthrown in 1930 and several presidents briefly held office. Immediately after taking office, he called for presidential elections and the election of a constituent assembly.
Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro (1889-1933)
General and politician; took part in the military coup that led to the overthrow of President Guillermo Billinghurst in 1914. He later organized the coup against Augusto B. Leguía. In 1930 he was appointed provisional president, but had to give up the office again in 1931. The presidency changed three times within a few days. Sánchez Cerro won the presidential elections that were announced under controversial circumstances. During his reign he fought bitterly the leftist Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana (APRA). During an APRA uprising in Trujillo, he deployed bombers, killing several hundred APRA militant supporters. In 1933 he was murdered by an APRA supporter.
Andrés de Santa Cruz (1792-1865)
Bolivian General; President of Peru from January to June 1827. Supporter of the Peruvian-Bolivian alliance of 1836, which disintegrated again in 1839. President of Bolivia from 1829 to 1839.
Felipe Santiago de Salaverry (1806-1836)
General and President of Peru from 1835 to 1836
Alejandro Toledo Manrique (born 1946)
economist and politician; since 2001 President of Peru
Juan Francisco Velasco Alvarado (1910-1977)
general and politician; President of Peru from 1968 to 1975
Writer and poet
Mario Vargas Llosa (born 1936)
He is one of the most important contemporary Latin American writers; including “Conversation in the Cathedral”, “Death in the Andes”, “The Goat Festival”. In 1990 he even ran for president and lost to his rival Alberto Kenya Fujimori (born 1938). In 2010 he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. Among the mostly left-leaning writers in South America, the liberal Llosa is rather an exception.
Isabel Allende (born in Peru in 1942)
Writer. She is a second-degree niece of the former Chilean President Salvador Allende (1908-1973) and the grandcousin of his daughter, the politician of the same name Isabel Allende. She became particularly well known in German-speaking countries through her first novel “Das Geisterhaus” from 1982. Her last book – A discrete miracle, Suhrkamp Verlag – dates from 2010.
Ciro Alegría (actually: Ciro Alegría Bazán) (1909-1967)
Writer; lived in exile from 1934 to 1960; socially critical novels, including “People at the Maranón”, “The Hungry Dogs”, “The World is Big and
Alien “. Sergio Bambarèn (born 1960)
Writer and engineer; made internationally known by “The Dreaming Dolphin”
Alfredo Bryce Echenique (born 1939)
Writer, literary scholar and lawyer; including the novel “A World for Julius”
Alonso Cueto (born 1954)
Writer and journalist; his volume of short stories “The Battle of the Past Year” is one of the most important books of modern Peruvian literature; including the novel “The White Tiger”
Theatrical poet; is considered one of the most original writers in Peru of the 17th century.
Ventura García Calderon (1886 – 1959)
Modernist narrator and poet, essayist, journalist and author of literary historical works; including “Peruvian Novellas”, “The Weeping of the Primeval Forest”
Garcilaso de la Vega (called: El Inca) (1539 – 1616)
The Peruvian poet, born as Gómez Suárez de Figueroa in Cusco and also known as “El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega” or just “El Inca”, was also a recognized writer on the subject of the Incas; the Estadio Garcilaso de la Vega in Cusco was named after him in 1950. “Comentarios reales que tratan le los Incas” (“History of the Incas, Kings of Peru”) on the culture, history and conquest of Peru is considered the first great work of Hispano-American literature.
Enrique López Albujar (1872-1966)
Writer
Josè María Arguedas (1911-1969)
is one of the most important authors of indigenism; including “The deep rivers”
Pedro de Peralta Barnuevo (1664-1743)
He is considered the most important author in Peru in the late baroque era.
Julio Ramón Ribeyro (1929-1994)
prose writer, playwright and essayist; numerous stories and novels about the petty-bourgeois milieu of Lima; including “Homeless Stories”, “In the Valley of San Gabriel”
Sebastián Salazar Bondy (1924 – 1965)
playwright, narrator and essayist; including “Der Rutengänger”
Manuel Scorza (1928 – 1983)
poet and storyteller; including a five-part novel cycle “La guerra silenciosa” about the social struggles of Indian farmers against the large landowners between 1950 and 1962;
Cèsar Vallejo (1892-1938) was a
poet in exile from 1963 to 1978; combined formal avant- gardism with humanitarian commitment in his poetry
lvaro Vargas Llosa (born 1966)
Writer and journalist; Son of the writer Mario Vargas Llosa; including the novel “El diablo en campaña”
Athlete
Esteban Canal (1896-1981)
chess grandmaster
Teófilo Cubillas (born 1949)
football player; is considered the Peruvian football legend
Alex Olmedo (born 1936)
tennis player; won several Grand Slam tournaments (including Wimbledon)
Claudio Pizarro (born 1978)
soccer player – for a long time striker of FC Bayern Munich.
Theologians and philosophers
Juan Luis Cardinal Cipriani Thorne (born 1943)
Archbishop of Lima
Juan Gualberto Cardinal Guevara (1882-1954)
was Archbishop of Lima
Juan Cardinal Landázuri Ricketts (1913-1997)
belonged to the Franciscan Order; was Archbishop of Lima
Rosa von Lima (1586 – 1617)
nun of the Dominican Order; was canonized in 1671 by Pope Clement X.
Martin de Porres (1569 – 1639)
Dominican monk; devoted himself to nursing and founded numerous charitable institutions. He was venerated as a saint during his lifetime, in 1962 he was appointed by Pope John XXIII. canonized.
Cardinal Augusto Vargas Alzamora (1922-2000)
was Archbishop of Lima
Others
Alejandro Velasco Astete (1897-1925)
Peruvian pilot from Cusco; he was the first person to fly over the Andes; his pioneer flight began in Lima and ended on August 31, 1925 in Cusco; The airport of Cusco and a street near the airport are named after this pilot, who died in a plane crash at the age of 28.
Henry Ian Cusick (born 1969)
film and stage actor; lives and works primarily in the UK
Géo Chavez (1887-1910)
French aviation pioneer of Peruvian descent. He became known for his attempt to cross the Alps, in which he was killed. Abimael Guzmán (born 1934)
leader of the Maoist guerrilla movement “Shining Path”. Legal scholar and philosopher. In the mid-1970s he went underground and waged a guerrilla war against the government. In 1992 he was caught in Lima and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Miguel Grau Seminario (1834-1879)
Admiral; Under his command, the flagship of the Chileans, the “Esmeralda”, was sunk during the naval battle of Iquique on May 21, 1879. On his orders, the Chilean seamen who fell into the sea were rescued. After bitter fighting, the Chileans had to end their sea blockade of the then Peruvian city of Iquique and withdraw. Grau Seminario is still considered a Peruvian national hero to this day.
Evaristo Nugkuag Ikanan (born 1950)
Medical professionals, human rights activists and environmentalists; He is an Aguaruna Indian and founded the COICA (Coordinadora de las Organizaciónes Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica), the umbrella organization of indigenous organizations from the nine countries bordering the Amazon basin. The goals of COICA are to preserve the tropical rainforest and secure the land rights of the indigenous peoples. He received the alternative Nobel Prize in 1986.
Francisco Pizarro González (1476/1478 – 1541)
Spanish conquistador; he conquered the empire of the Inca; In 1532 he captured the Inca king Atahualpa; In 1533 he sacked and pillaged Cuzco; Most of the gold and silver there he had melted down and temples and palaces torn down
Hernando de Soto (born 1941)
internationally known neoliberal economist and economic advisor
Jenny de la Torre Castro (born 1954)
German-Peruvian doctor; Founder of the “Jenny de la Torre Foundation” for the homeless in Berlin
Peru: animals
Mammals
Peru is home to around 500 different mammal species, the occurrence of which varies greatly depending on the different landscapes. The region around Puerte Maldonada, with the almost preserved tropical forest, is a true animal paradise. The region lies in the west of the country on the border with Bolivia in the Amazon lowlands.
Monkeys
spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys, night monkeys, howler monkeys or silky monkeys are particularly common in the Amazon basin. You can find a detailed description of the howler monkeys here >>>
Agoutis
The agoutis (Dasyprocta) are a genus of rodents from the family of the agoutis and acouchis (Dasyproctidae). They have slender bodies and a thick and coarse coat that is usually dark orange or brownish in color.
They live in forests, dense bushland and savannahs, but also in fields and plantations. They are usually diurnal.
Their underside is white or yellowish. The animals reach a head-trunk length of 40 to 65 cm – with a weight between 1.5 to 4 kg. Agoutis are pure herbivores
There are eleven species of agoutis, of which the following species occurs in southeastern Peru:
– Kalinowski agouti (Dasyprocta kalinowskii)
Alpacas
Alpacas belong and are their domesticated species. The animals are kept semi-wild in herds as pack animals, because of their wool and as meat suppliers. A detailed description of the alpacas can be found here >>>
Spectacled
bears The spectacled bear is the only bear found in South America. The animals with their striking white border around the eyes grow up to about 1.80 m tall.
A detailed description of the animal can be found here >>>
Sloths
Of the sloths there are the two- toed and three- toed sloths. Both animal species are described in detail and illustrated by Goruma. To do this, follow the two links.
Guanacos
The guanacos (Lama guanicoe) are a wild animal species in the family of the camels (Camelidae) and the order of the artiodacylla. The head-torso length varies between 140 and 220 cm, with a shoulder height of about 120 cm.
Their fur is woolly and dense and is light brown on the top and whitish on the underside, while the face is often black.
Armadillos
The armadillos (Dasypoda) belong to the order of the armored articulated animals (Cingulata) in the superordinate order of the articulated animals (Xenarthra). There are 21 species of the armadillos genus that occur in the southwestern United States and South America, with most species being found in central South America. For example, there are 12 species in Paraguay. Particularly noteworthy is the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), which occurs in Peru and is the most widespread armadillo
Llamas
The llamas (Lama glama) belong to the camel family and are a domesticated species of guanacos.
The animals are kept semi-wild as pack animals and because of their wool in herds. A detailed representation of the animals can be found here >>>
Coatis
The coatis belong to the genus Nasua and occur in the southwest of the USA, in Central and South America. Depending on their species, the animals reach a size between 45 to 70 cm – with a weight between 3.5 to 6 kg. The color of the back ranges from light brown to reddish and even blackish. Their underside color ranges from yellowish to dark brown. The muzzle, chin, and throat are usually white and the feet are black. Her face is black with white spots while her eyes are surrounded by a reddish to brown mask. The animals live in evergreen tropical rainforests as well as in dry, deciduous forests. In Peru you can find the South American coati (Nasua nasua),
which occurs from Colombia, French Guiana and Venezuela to Uruguay to northern Argentina.
Ocelots
The ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) is a nocturnal big cat living in the southern USA and in Central and South America.
A detailed representation of the ocelot can be found here >>>
Pumas
The Pumas (Puma concolor) are large cats of prey and occur in North, Central and South America.
A detailed presentation of the pumas can be found here >>>
Jaguars
The jaguars (Panthera onco) are the largest big cats on the American continent and the third largest in the world after the lions and tigers. A detailed description of the jaguars can be found here >>>
Vicuña
The Vicuña, Vikunja, (Vicugna vicugna) is the national animal of Peru. The animals belong to the camel family (Camelidae) and are similar to the guanoca, although it is slightly smaller than this with a head-trunk length of up to 130 cm and a shoulder height of 100 cm. Their fine and very dense fur is light brown on the top and whitish on the underside.
Capybara
The capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) belong to the family of the guinea pigs (Caviidae). The animals are the largest rodents with a head-trunk length between 100 and 130 cm and a shoulder height between 50 and 60 cm.
Their fur is long and rough and sometimes so thin that the skin shows through. The coloring of the animals ranges from red-brown to gray on the upper side, while their underside is yellowish-brown. Some animals have black spots on their faces, on the outside of their limbs and on their bodies. The animals mainly live in water, with their webbed feet helping to move quickly in the water. The animals can be found east of the Andes except in Peru in Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Ecuador, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, in Uruguay and in the northeast of Argentina. It is completely absent in Chile.
Wild
boars Wild boars are still relatively common in Peru. As a rule, the animals live in a pack of up to 10 animals. A detailed description of the wild boar can be found here >>>
Reptiles – without poisonous snakes
Idol snake
The idol snake (Boa constrictor) reaches sizes between 3 and 4 m and feeds on smaller and larger mammals as well as on birds and reptiles.
The prey is embraced and strangled by contracting the muscles.
There are six subspecies of
the snake. A detailed description of the snake can be found at Goruma here >>>
Cane toad
The cane toad belongs to the genus Rhinella, to the family of toads (Bufonidae) and to the order of the frogs (Anura). With a maximum size up to a little less than 23 cm and a weight around 1,000 g it belongs together with the The goliath frog (Conraua goliath), the Colombian giant toad (Bufo blombergi), the African bullfrog (Pyxicephalus adspersus) and the American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) are among the largest frogs in the world.
The top of the animals is gray-brown with dark spots, while the underside is dirty-white and spotted every now and then. In contrast to the females, the males have brown and yellow spots on the sides of the body and on the throat.
The original distribution area reached from the Amazon region and the southeast of Peru via Central America to the north to South Texas. Their habitats here are mainly subtropical forests near water and the tropical rainforest. But because of their great adaptability, they can also live in other habitats, be it open grasslands, agricultural land, wetlands, gardens, parks, and even the gardens of single-family homes.
But humans introduced the animal – mostly for pest control – to Australia, Papua New Guinea, the Fiji Islands, the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Hawaii, Florida, Puerto Rico, as well as a number of smaller Caribbean islands and Mauritius. The nocturnal animal feeds to a large extent on living animals such as insects, spiders, worms and snails. But other amphibians and small mammals such as young mice are also on their menu. With the help of its poison from the two posterior ear glands and the skin glands on the back, it can ward off potential predators. Oral contact with the poison can be fatal to mammals, birds and reptiles (snakes). Dogs and cats died within 15 minutes of ingesting the poison.
As early as 1935, Australian toads began to be released on sugar cane plantations for pest control. It is estimated that around 200 million (as of 2018) have made their home in Australia. Not least because they hardly have any predators. An interesting exception is the black kite (Milvus migrans), which has learned to attack the toads on their non-toxic belly. The cane toads are responsible for the disappearance of a number of amphibian species, monitor lizards and snakes and have developed into a veritable plague that – despite numerous attempts – can hardly be mastered.
Large anaconda
The large anaconda (Eunectes) can in rare cases be over 9 m long and is therefore the largest snake in the world alongside the reticulated python. Your prey is entwined and strangled or crushed by the contraction of the muscles.
It can also be life-threatening for humans. The Great Anakondo can be found here in northeastern Peru in Brazil, Ecuador, French Guiana, Colombia, northern Bolivia, northeast Peru, eastern Paraguay, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.
There are four types of the genus anaconda:
– Eunectes beniensis (Beni anaconda)
– Eunectes deschauenseei (De-Schauensee anaconda)
– Eunectes murinus (large anaconda)
– Eunectes notaeus (yellow anaconda)
A detailed description of the local Great Anaconda can be found at Goruma here >>>
Leatherback turtles
The leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), with a shield size of up to 2.50 m and a weight of up to 800 kg, is the largest turtle in the world and is the only species from the family of the same name (Dermochelyidae. A detailed description of the leatherback turtle can be found at Goruma here> >>
American
crocodile American crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus) can grow to be almost 7 m in length and are found in Central America, in northern South America and in the Florida Everglades. In Peru you can find the animals in the north of the country. You can find a detailed description of the American crocodile at Goruma here >>>
Venomous snakes – lance vipers
General information
The genus of the lance vipers (Bothrops) belongs to the subfamily of the pit vipers (Ctotalinae) and to the family of the vipers (Viperidae).
The genus of the lance viper comprises 45 species of snakes, some of which in turn have subspecies.
The smallest species or subspecies reach a length between 50 to 70 cm and the largest can be over 2 m long.
Their poison has tissue-destroying parts (proteases), blood-damaging and kidney-damaging parts.
It is worth mentioning that the enzyme reptilase in the venom of Bothrops atrox and Bothrops jararaca is used in diagnostics to determine coagulation disorders and as a therapeutic agent for anticoagulation.
The animals are viviparous. They get their name from their triangular head shape, which is reminiscent of a lance tip.
Barnett`s lance viper (Bothrops barnetti)
The snake occurs only in Peru.
There are no subspecies of the snake
Brazilian lance viper (Bothrops brazil)
The snake is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, French Guyana, Guyana, Colombia, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
There are no subspecies of the snake
Speckled wood lance viper (Bothrops taeniatus)
The snake is found in Bolivia, Brazil (Amazon, Rondonia, Mato Grosso, Goiás, Roraima, Maranhão, Pará and Acre), Ecuador, French Guyana, Guyana, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela.
The snake has two subspecies, Bothrops taeniata taeniata and Bothrops taeniata lichenosa
Common lance viper (Bothrops atrox)
The snake is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, French Guyana, Guyana, Colombia, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
Also on Trinidad, an island that belongs to the Lesser Antilles.
There are no subspecies of the snake
Lojan lance viper (Bothrops lojanus)
The snake is found in northern Peru and Ecuador. There are no subspecies of the snake.
Matogrossa lance viper (Bothrops matogrossensis)
The snake occurs in Argentina (Salta), Bolivia, Brazil (Mato Grosso do Sul, Amazonas, Rondonia, Goias, Tocantins, São Paulo), Paraguay and Peru.
There are no subspecies of the snake.
Osborn`s lance viper (Bothrops osbornei)
The snake occurs in Ecuador and Peru.
There are no subspecies of the snake
Peru Lance Viper (Bothrops chloromela)
The snake is only found in Peru.
There are no subspecies of the snake
Peruvian wood lance viper (Bothrops oligolepis)
The snake is found in Bolivia and Peru.
There are no subspecies of the snake
Desert lance viper (Bothrops pictus)
The snake occurs only in Peru on the coast up to heights of up to 1,800 m.
There are no subspecies of the snake
Palm lance vipers
General information
The palm lance vipers belong to the genus Bothriechis, to the subfamily of pit vipers (Crotalinae) and to the family of vipers (Viperidae).
The species of this snake genus have a length of about 60 to 80 cm – very rarely they reach a length of 1 m.
The palm lance vipers live exclusively in the trees of the tropical rainforest and are well adapted to the way of life in trees thanks to their long tail, which is optimized for grasping. Like all pit otters, they have pit organs on the sides of their heads between the nostrils and eyes, with which they can perceive thermal radiation (infrared radiation), which makes them good night hunters.
Their basic color is mostly green to greenish-yellow with light and dark speckles, whereby the very color-variable prehensile-tailed lanceolate is an exception.
Raspberry-tailed palm lance viper (Bothriechis schlegelii)
The snake is found in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico,
Nicaragua, Peru and Venezuela.
There are no subspecies of the snake
Venomous snakes – coral snakes
General information
This mostly very pretty snake of the genus Micrurus (coral snake, coral otter) with its black and white or yellow and red rings occurs in 79 species with various subspecies.
They can be found in the southern states of the USA via Mexico, Central America and almost all of South America – with the exception of Chile. Often, however, not nationwide but only in parts of the country or even in smaller regions.
They live mainly in moist, warm habitats and are between 60 to 150 cm long. Their head is barely wider than the trunk and their tail is short. They have The nocturnal snakes usually live hidden in holes in the ground, between dense vegetation or under stones and feed on small reptiles – more rarely on small mammals, amphibians, and young birds.
However, bites are extremely rare in humans. They have a very effective neurotoxin, which interrupts the connection between nerves and between nerves and muscles (synapses).
In addition, numerous species of snake have poisonous parts that destroy muscle tissue (myotoxins). Without an antiserum, paralysis and even fatal respiratory arrest can be expected.
Andes black-
backed coral snake The Andes black-backed coral snake (Micrurus narduccii) occurs at altitudes between 100 and 1,500 m of the Andes in southern Colombia, in Ecuador, Peru and in Bolivia.
There are no subspecies of the snake.
Bolivian coral snake
Bolivian coral snake (Micrurus obscurus) is found in the south and east of Colombia, in the northwest of Brazil, in the north of Bolivia, in the east of Ecuador and in the east of Peru.
There are no subspecies of the snake.
Ecuador
Coral Snake The Ecuador Coral Snake (Micrurus bocourti) – called Ecuador Coral Snake in English – can be found in the west of Ecuador (Pacific lowlands) and in the northwest of Peru.
There are no subspecies of the snake
Speckled coral snake
The speckled (also speckled) coral snake (Micrurus margaritiferus) is found in Ecuador and in the northeast of Peru. There are no subspecies of the snake
Hemprich’s coral snake
Hemprich’s coral snake (Micrurus hemprichii) is found in Bolivia, Brazil (Para, Rondonia), Ecuador, French Guyana, Guyana, Colombia, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. There are two subspecies of the snake.
Langsdorff’s coral snake
The Langsdorff’s coral snake (Micrurus langsdorffi) can be found in the north of Peru, in the north-west of Brazil, in the south of Colombia and in the south of Ecuador.
There are no subspecies of the snake
Merten`s Coral Snake
The Merten`s Coral Snake (Micrurus mertensi) can be found in the north-west of Peru and in the south-west of Ecuador. There are no subspecies of the snake.
Ornat coral snake
The Ornat coral snake (Micrurus ornatissimus) is found in the east of Ecuador, in Colombia in the north of Peru and in Brazil (Rondônia). There are no subspecies of the snake.
Peru coral snake
The Peru coral snake (Micrurus peruvianus) is found in Peru (Cajamarca, Amazonas), as well as in Ecuador.
There are no subspecies of the snake.
Putumayo Coral Snake
The Putumayo Coral Snake (Micrurus putumayensis) is found in Peru (Loreto) as well as in the southeast of Colombia and in the northwest of Brazil. There are no subspecies of the snake.
Ring-shaped coral snake
The ring-shaped coral snake (Micrurus annelatus) occurs in eastern Peru, Bolivia and western Brazil. There are three subspecies of the snake.
Slender coral snake
The Slender coral snake (Micrurus filiformis) occurs in northern Peru, in northern Brazil, in southern Colombia and in eastern Ecuador.
There are no subspecies of the snake.
Steindachner`s Coral Snake
The Steindachner`s Coral Snake (Micrurus steindachneri) can be found in the east of Ecuador except in Peru. There are two subspecies of the snake.
Water coral snake
The water coral snake (Micrurus surinamensis) is found in Peru, Bolivia, French Guiana, Guyana, in the Amazon region of Colombia, in Ecuador and in parts of Brazil (Mato Grosso, Pará).
There are no subspecies of the snake.
White-banded coral snake
The white-banded coral snake (Micrurus albicinctus) is found in Peru and in parts of Brazil (Amazons, Rondonia, Mato Grosso). There are no subspecies of the snake.
Western Amazon coral snake
The western Amazon coral snake (Micrurus tikuna) is found in Peru, Brazil (Amazons and Colombia (Amazon). There are no subspecies of the snake.
Desert coral snake
The desert coral snake (Micrurus tschudii) is found in Peru, Brazil (Amazonas) and Colombia. There are no subspecies of the snake.
Dwarf black-backed coral snake
The dwarf-like black-backed coral snake (Micrurus scutiventris) lives in Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and Colombia. There are no subspecies of the snake.
Birds
General overview
In Peru there are an estimated 1,900 different bird species, of which around 200 are endemic, so only occur here. Most of the bird species worldwide live here. And woodpeckers and Andean swallows are worth mentioning. Ibises, Uferwipper, hummingbirds can even be seen at the Titicacasse. Some birds should be described in more detail:
Macaw
The green-winged macaw (Ara chloroptera), the largest parrot species in the world, lives in Peru.
The bird belongs to the genus true macaws in the family of the true parrots (Psittacidae) in the order of the parrots (Psittaciformes). The animals can reach a body length of up to 90 cm. Their wings are blue, the middle, eponymous wing covers, on the other hand, green and the upper tail feathers are bluish. The tail feathers are red and blue at the tip. Overall, the bird is wonderfully colorful to look at.
Andean condor
The Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) is with a wingspan of up to 3.20 m and a weight of over 12 kg (males) in its area the “king of the air”.
A detailed representation of this bird and it can be found here >>>
Flamingos
The flamingos (Phoenicopteridae) can be found with their different species in North America as well as in Central and South America. They are also distributed over parts of Europe.
In Peru you can find the chile flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis), which occurs from Peru via Uruguay to Tierra del Fuego in the south of the continent. The animals are between 120 to 140 cm tall, with the legs between 40 to 50 cm long. Their diet consists of small crabs, insects, molluscs and algae from the bottom mud.
Furthermore, the Andean flamingo (Phoenicoparrus andinus) lives in the high Andes in southern Peru, which can be found at the salt lakes between 2,200 m and 4,500 m.
The James flamingo (Phoenicoparrus jamesi) is also found in the salt lakes in southern Peru. It feeds exclusively on diatoms and crabs.
Seabirds
On the Pacific coasts and on and on the country’s lakes you can enjoy numerous birds. These include
insects
Peru is a butterfly lover’s paradise. There are an estimated 1,800 different species here.
The local termites, which live in large colonies in termite mounds, but can also become a nuisance in the wood of houses, are interesting. In addition, numerous mosquitoes, flies, wasps and bees live here. A number of different species of ants are also found in Peru
Water world
Penguins and seals live in the coastal region of Peru. Particularly noteworthy are the approx. 30 different species of dolphins and whales. You can also find lobster, sardines, mackerel and numerous smaller fish species here
South American river otter
The South American river otter (Lontra longicaudis) is a marten from the genus of the New World marten (Lontra) in the marten family (Marder (Mustelidae. In Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, as well as in southern Brazil one can find his Subspecies Lontra longicaudis longicaudis:
The animals prefer faster flowing currents in rain and dry forests.
Peru: plants
In the plains on the coast, grasses and shrubs and reeds grow, which are often used as building material.
The crops grown here include sugar cane, maize, rice, asparagus and cotton.
Succulents and cacti in particular grow in the coastal deserts.
The biodiversity is much greater in the rainforests. In addition to numerous tree species, vanilla, rubber and mahogany trees grow here. Orchids, lianas and bromeliads also grow here.
In the highlands of the Andes, vegetation is limited to cacti, giant bromeliads and mesquites.
The leaves of the coca plant are often chewed or made into tea and can be used for altitude sickness. In addition, plants are burned for religious reasons, for example to drive away evil spirits.
