Although the landscape in the map is dominated by animals such as cows, sheep, pigs and horses, none of these animals were native to Andean landscapes.

In the savanna’s water-rich ecosystem, the Indigenous Muisca people designed a system of cultivation terraces made up of raised beds and elevated platforms. The terraces, in turn, were traversed by ditches that drained the excess water and served as fishing canals.

The introduction of cattle raising following the Spanish invasion changed the landscape of the savanna forever. The raised-bed and canal systems were not practical from the perspective of ranching. For this purpose, it was more useful to level the terraced fields and convert the landscape to pastures.