Tropical rainforests are home to an incredible range of animal life. Over half of the world’s known species exist in the Amazon rainforest alone. Colourful birds, such as toucans, parrots and macaws, live alongside gorillas or other primates, while tigers, pumas and wolves may roam among countless poisonous snakes and insects.

It is said that a single hectare (about two and half acres) of rainforest can contain up to 1500 species of plants plus 750 species of trees. It is this wealth of plant life that attracts and sustains an amazing collection of animals. For example, one in five of all bird species are found in the Amazon rainforest.

Mammals such as Orangutans (in Asia), Gorillas (Africa), Jaguars (South America) and sloths (Central and South America) all call the rainforest home. Sloths spend most of their time in the trees. Their hooked claws and long arms allow them to spend most of their time hanging upside down! Sloths are herbivores and due to their slow movement and metabolism it can take them up to a month to digest their food! Reptiles such as Anacondas, the Emerald Boa Constrictor and the Gaboon Viper slither through the trees and on the forest floor. Insects including cutter ants, tarantulas, scorpions, butterflies and beetles rummage on the forest floor. Amphibians such as frogs and toads live in trees or near bodies of water on the forest floor. Fish including the piranha, Amazonian catfish, fresh water dolphins and stingray inhabit the rivers that run through the rainforests.

Because there are so many animals in the rainforest there is a lot of competition for sunlight, food and space. Animals therefore have to adapt to the environment.

Some animals use camouflage to hide from predators and some predators use camouflage to help them hunt for food. Their colouring or patterned skin help them disappear into the rainforest, blending into the colour of the bark or leaves.

Some animals don’t hide, some use their colouring to warn potential predators away. The poison dart frog is a good example, they may be small but they are one of nature’s most toxic and dangerous creatures. Some local people put the frog’s poisonous toxins on the tips of their blowpipe darts to kill small prey which they then eat.

Picture Credit : Google