There is a large variety of rainforest animals in Costa Rica, due to the fact that it is located between 2 large continental territories: North America and South America. A lot of the animals from these 2 big territories were able to cross from North America to South America when Costa Rica and Panama formed a bridge between the 2 about 4 million years ago.
Species
Among the many species of rainforest animals in Costa Rica are howler monkeys, white-faced capuchin monkeys, spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys, 2 toed sloths, 3 toed sloths, toucans, scarlet macaws, jaguars, ocelots, margays, crocodiles, several species of frogs, snakes, whitetail deer, squirrels, tapirs, thousands of species of insects (300,000 approx.) and hundreds of species of birds, among others.
Biodiversity
Costa Rica is considered to be one of the most biologically intense countries in the world, hosting 5% approx. of the world’s biodiversity and some of the rainforest animals in Costa Rica are endemic, meaning that they can’t be found anywhere else in the world.
All of these rainforest species are well protected in Costa Rica; first, because sport hunting is prohibited in the country; and also because a 34% of the country’s territory is dedicated to conservation, like national parks (28 of them), biological reserves (8 of them) and several private reserves that contribute to the efforts of conservation.
Conservation
Due to the extensive conservation efforts, the populations of several of these rainforest animals in Costa Rica are growing rapidly, making our country one of the best places in the world for the observation of wildlife. Due to this, the tourism industry has grown very fast, making Costa Rica one of the best spots worldwide for ecotourism and conservation of endangered species.
Follow us on Facebook to see great pictures and information about Costa Rica
These are some of the places where you have better chances of seeing Rainforest Animals in Costa Rica