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Argentina

South America

Capital: Buenos AiresOctober to March

394

Documented species

27

Parks and reserves

2

Dive sites

Argentina extends more than three thousand five hundred kilometres from north to south and strings together the subtropical forest of Misiones, with the Iguazú Falls, the dry Chaco, the Iberá wetlands, the pampas, the Patagonian steppe, the Andes with Aconcagua, and the forests and glaciers of the south as far as Tierra del Fuego. The Valdés peninsula, on the Atlantic, is an exceptional enclave where southern right whales come to calve alongside elephant seals, sea lions and Magellanic penguins in colonies of hundreds of thousands of pairs. In the northwest, the puna and the high-altitude salt flats hold flamingos and vicuñas, and on the river lowlands the Iberá marshes have become the largest rewilding project in the Americas.

Nature in Argentina

National animal: The rufous hornero, the country's national bird

Did you know?

At Punta Norte, on the Valdés peninsula, a handful of orcas practise a hunting technique known almost nowhere else in the world: they use the high tide to charge the shore, deliberately stranding themselves on the shingle to seize sea lion pups, then twist their way back into the water. It is a risky manoeuvre that adult females teach their calves over years, pushing them up the beach and dragging them back.

Biodiversity profile

Conservation

In the Iberá marshes the jaguar has been reintroduced after seventy years of absence, along with the giant anteater, the pampas deer, the peccary and the red-and-green macaw, in the most ambitious wildlife restoration operation on the continent. The huemul, Patagonia's emblematic deer, remains endangered with highly fragmented populations.

Where and when to watch wildlife

The Valdés peninsula between June and December for southern right whales, and in March and April for the orcas at Punta Norte. Iberá year-round for capybaras, deer and jaguars. Iguazú in spring for forest birds.

Natural phenomena in Argentina

  • Intentional stranding of killer whales at Peninsula Valdes — March and April at Punta Norte; October and November at Caleta Valdes
  • Southern right whales at Peninsula Valdes — June to December (peak Jul-Oct)
  • Magellanic penguin colony at Punta Tombo — September to April (peak Dec-Feb)

Parks and reserves

World Heritage Site (Natural)

Península Valdés

The main breeding site of the southern right whale and the only place where orcas deliberately strand themselves to hunt.

See park
Provincial Park

Ischigualasto (Valley of the Moon)

The Valley of the Moon; the fossil beds where some of the earliest dinosaurs on the planet were found

See park
National Park

Los Alerces

Forests of Patagonian cypress, a tree that can live more than 3,000 years, among the longest-lived on the planet alongside the redwoods

See park
National Park

Los Glaciares

The Perito Moreno is one of the few glaciers in the world in balance or advancing rather than retreating

See park
National Park

Iguazú National Park

It protects the Argentine side of the Iguazú Falls, a system of almost 300 cataracts surrounded by subtropical forest.

See park
National Park

Talampaya

A red rock canyon up to 200 metres high with petroglyphs more than 2,000 years old

See park
National Park

Campo de los Alisos

A complete yungas gradient in Tucumán, from montane forest up to the high grasslands of the Aconquija.

See park
National Park

Lago Puelo

Valdivian forest in north-western Chubut, where Chilean species cross the Andes through a low pass.

See park
Provincial/National Park and Reserve

Iberá

The second largest freshwater wetland in South America; a pioneering rewilding project with jaguar and giant anteater reintroduced

See park
National Park

Tierra del Fuego

Argentina's southernmost national park; the end of the Pan-American Highway and of the southernmost railway in the world

See park
National Park

Baritu

The northernmost and least accessible national park in Argentina, deep in the subtropical yungas on the Bolivian border

See park
National Park

Jaramillo Petrified Forest

Fossilised araucaria trunks 150 million years old, among the largest and best preserved in the world

See park
National Park

Calilegua

It protects the yungas, the southernmost subtropical cloud forest in the Americas, at the far southern end of the Amazon-Andean basin

See park
National Park

Campos del Tuyu

The only place in Buenos Aires province still holding a population of pampas deer, all but extinct across the rest of its historic range

See park
National Park

Chaco

It protects forests of quebracho colorado, a tree of extremely dense wood characteristic of the Gran Chaco region

See park
National Park

Copo

One of the last blocks of primary Chaco forest surviving in the Argentine dry Chaco, badly threatened by the advance of the soya frontier

See park
National Park

El Palmar

One of the last great yatay palm groves that once covered much of Argentina's river littoral

See park
National Park

El Rey

A former estate, the El Rey ranch, expropriated by the Argentine state in 1948 for perpetual protection

See park
National Park

Lanin

Dominated by the Lanín volcano, an almost perfect 3,776-metre cone, sacred to the Mapuche people

See park
National Park

Monte León

Argentina's first coastal-marine national park, given by the Tompkins Foundation after it bought the former cattle estancia

See park
National Park

Nahuel Huapi

The first national park in Argentina and in the whole of South America, born of a private gift

See park
National Park

Perito Moreno (Santa Cruz)

Not to be confused with the glacier of the same name; it protects remote Patagonian steppe with rock art more than 8,000 years old

See park
National Park

Pre-Delta

It protects the beginning of the Paraná River delta, with islands that appear and vanish with the river's flood regime

See park
National Park

Quebrada del Condorito

The only national park in the Sierras de Córdoba, with Argentina's most easterly Andean condor population.

See park
National Park

Río Pilcomayo

A fragment of humid Chaco on the Paraguayan border, with marshes, palm groves and the maned wolf.

See park
National Park

San Guillermo

One of the largest concentrations of wild vicuña in Argentina, on an Andean altiplano running from 2,100 to 6,400 metres

See park
National Park

Sierra de las Quijadas

Reddish rock formations with dinosaur tracks and fossil remains of South American Cretaceous wildlife

See park

Diving and snorkelling

Cold pelagic/Seabird colony

Puerto Deseado (penguins)

A stretch of Patagonian coast with penguin colonies reachable by diving, in the cold water of the South Atlantic.

See dive site
Cold pelagic

Puerto Madryn (Valdés Peninsula)

Seasonal snorkelling and diving with southern right whales, which breed in Golfo Nuevo each southern winter.

See dive site

Wildlife you can see now

What is worth looking out for this month in Argentina?

Southern Elephant SealVulnerable

Southern Elephant Seal

Mirounga leonina

Now is a good time: Intentional stranding of killer whales at Peninsula Valdes (March and April at Punta Norte; October and November at Caleta Valdes)

Killer WhaleEndangered

Killer Whale

Orcinus orca

Now is a good time: Intentional stranding of killer whales at Peninsula Valdes (March and April at Punta Norte; October and November at Caleta Valdes)

South American Sea LionLeast Concern

South American Sea Lion

Otaria flavescens

Now is a good time: Intentional stranding of killer whales at Peninsula Valdes (March and April at Punta Norte; October and November at Caleta Valdes)

Now is a good time: Southern right whales at Peninsula Valdes (June to December (peak Jul-Oct))

Similar countries

Where else might I want to travel?

Brazil

Same region: South America

Peru

Same region: South America

Bolivia

Same region: South America

Guyana

Same region: South America

Species documented in Argentina

Filter
Class
Family
Habitat
Diet
Conservation

394 species found

Related guides

  • Threatened birds of Argentina15 species
  • Where to see Eagles in Argentina12 species
  • Where to see Andean Condor in Argentina11 species
  • Where to see Foxes in Argentina11 species

Keep exploring

Based on what we already know about Argentina.

ParkPenínsula ValdésDivingPuerto Deseado (penguins)

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This page in other languages: Español · Deutsch · Français · Português · Italiano
Southern Right WhaleLeast Concern

Southern Right Whale

Eubalaena australis

Titicaca Water FrogCritically Endangered

Titicaca Water Frog

Telmatobius culeus

Grey-Headed AlbatrossEndangered

Grey-Headed Albatross

Thalassarche chrysostoma

Blue WhaleEndangered

Blue Whale

Balaenoptera musculus

Short-tailed ChinchillaEndangered

Short-tailed Chinchilla

Chinchilla chinchilla

Spotted Eagle RayEndangered

Spotted Eagle Ray

Aetobatus narinari

Amazon River DolphinEndangered

Amazon River Dolphin

Inia geoffrensis

Andean CatEndangered

Andean Cat

Leopardus jacobita

Patagonian HuemulEndangered

Patagonian Huemul

Hippocamelus bisulcus

Southern River OtterEndangered

Southern River Otter

Lontra provocax

Antarctic Fur SealEndangered

Antarctic Fur Seal

Arctocephalus gazella

Dusky PerchEndangered

Dusky Perch

Epinephelus marginatus

Giant OtterEndangered

Giant Otter

Pteronura brasiliensis

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