Ecuador's Yasuni park rich in wildlife

GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Ecuador's Yasuni National Park is proving to be the most biologically diverse region in South America and possibly the world, scientists in Texas say.

Yasuni, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, is breaking world records for its array of plant and animal species, said Peter English, a bird specialist at the University of Texas, Austin.

"We have so far documented 596 bird species occurring in Yasuni," English said. "That's incredible diversity to find in just one corner of the Amazon rain forest and rivals any other spot on the planet."

The 150 amphibian species found to date in Yasuni is a world record, said Shawn McCracken of Texas State University, San Marcos. "There are more species of frogs and toads within Yasuni than are native to the United States and Canada combined."

The biodiversity of Yasuni is threatened by proposed oil development projects, the scientists wrote in a recent issue of the scientific journal PLoS ONE. English and McCracken recommend a moratorium on new oil exploration until the impact of such projects can be explored further.