Wildlife of Nicaragua

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nicaragua has a wide variety of wildlife, most of which live in wildlife reserves and live in rainforests, lakes, mountains, and volcanoes throughout the country. Bosawas Biosphere Reserve covers 1.8 million acres making is the 2nd largest reserve in the Americas after the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil and is extremely rich in Biodiversity.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Sea Turtles 3 Nicaragua Shark 4 Animals of Nicaragua 4.1 Birds 4.2 Felines 5 Unusual animals in Nicaragua 6 Protected areas 6.1 Indio-Maíz Biological Reserve 7 Endangered Species in Nicaragua 8 References 9 External Links

[edit] Overview

Nicaragua has 78 wildlife & nature reserves that shelter a wide range of ecosystems. Flora and fauna species are in the thousands. There are about 12,000 vegetable classified species, another 5,000 not classified yet and there are more than 1,400 classified animal species.^[1] There are also over 250,000 insect species.

[edit] Sea Turtles

Perhaps the creature that Nicaragua is best known for is the sea turtle. Each year thousands of sea turtles make the journey from the sea to the beach where they spend the entire night digging and nest and laying their eggs before returning to the waters. Unfortunately the sea turtle has become an endangered animal and so extensive efforts are being made to preserve them as much as possible. [1]

[edit] Nicaragua Shark

Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan River is home to the Nicaragua shark which is the worlds only freshwater shark.^[2] Nicaragua has recently banned freshwater fishing of the Nicaragua shark and sawfish because of population declines.^[3]

[edit] Animals of Nicaragua

[edit] Birds

There are over 400 of species alone just in the Indio Maiz Biological reserve. Some of the country's most common birds are:

• Guardabarranco which is Nicaraguas National bird.
• Chocoyos which are green parrots mainly found in the Masaya volcano area.
• Toucans
• Macaws

[edit] Felines

Felines in Nicaragua include the jaguar, which is the largest feline found in the country. Other big cat species include:

• Pumas
• Cougars

• Jaguarondis
• Margays
• Ocelots

[edit] Unusual animals in Nicaragua

If you’re looking for more unusual creatures, you will find several in Nicaragua.^[4]

• The three-toed sloth may not seem to move much at all if you spot them since it takes them six hours to travel just one mile.
• The Tamandua anteater is roughly four feet long and has massive claws.
• The Armadillo which is a shelled creature that lives off insects.

[edit] Protected areas

Main article: SINAP

Nicaragua has 78 protected areas which cover 18% of its landmass,^[5] SINAP categorizes each of them by:

• Nature Reserves
• Genetic Resources Reserves
• Nature Sanctuaries
• Private Nature Reserves
• National Monuments
• Historical Monuments

[edit] Indio-Maíz Biological Reserve

Indio-Maíz Biological Reserve is the largest expanse of lowland rain forest reserve, referred to as the finest rain forest nature reserve in Central America by UCLA biologists ^[6] and alone is home to:

• 400 species of birds
• four species of wild cats &
• more than 200 species of reptiles.

[edit] Endangered Species in Nicaragua

There are many endangered animal species in Nicaragua.

• White-faced Capuchin Monkeys
• Black-handed Spider Monkeys
• Sea Turtles
• Jaguarondis

Ometepe harbors large populations of the endangered white-faced capuchin monkey. Efforts have been put in to protect these animals. Nicaragua has banned fishing of the Nicaragua shark and sawfish because of population declines. ^[7], and the Wildlife Conservation Society and FFI has been involved in conservating the sea turtles. ^[8]

[edit] References

[edit] External Links

• Nicaragua.com on Wildlife
• underwatertimes.com Article on endangered shark in Nicaragua.
• WCSAdopt-a-turtle fund
• CentralAmerica.comInformation about National Parks
• More info on reserves