Wildlife of Nicaragua

The Wildlife of Nicaragua includes its flora and fauna. 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. Bosawás covers 1.8 million acres (7,300 km²) making it the 2nd largest rainforest in the Americas after the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil and is extremely rich in Biodiversity.

Overview

Nicaragua has 78 protected areas that include wildlife refuges and 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. [ [http://centralamerica.com/nicaragua/parks/nationalpark.htm National Parks and Protected Areas of Nicaragua ] ] There are also over 250,000 insect species.

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. [ [http://www.nicaragua.com/wildlife/ Nicaragua.com - Wildlife - Nicaragua ] ]

Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan River is home to the Nicaragua shark which is the world's only freshwater shark. [ [http://www.nature.org/wherewework/centralamerica/nicaragua/ The Nature Conservancy in Nicaragua - Nicaragua Nature - Nicaragua Conservation - Nicaragua Environment - Nature and Conservation ] ] Nicaragua has recently banned freshwater fishing of the Nicaragua shark and sawfish because of population declines. [ [http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=05437210968 UnderwaterTimes | Nicaragua bans freshwater shark fishing amid dwindling population numbers ] ]

Fauna of Nicaragua

Birds

The avifauna of Nicaragua includes a total of 699 species, of which, 1 is endemic, 2 have been introduced by humans, and 14 are rare or accidental. 8 species are globally threatened.

*Guardabarranco which is Nicaragua's National bird.
*Chocoyos which are green parrots, mainly found in the Masaya volcano area.
*Toucans
*Macaws

Felines

Felines in Nicaragua include the jaguar, which is the largest feline found in the country. Other big cat species include:
*Cougars
*Jaguarondis
*Margays
*Ocelots

Unusual animals

There are a number of unusual animals found in Nicaragua, some include: [ [http://www.nicaragua.com/wildlife/ Nicaragua.com - Wildlife - Nicaragua ] ]
*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.

Endangered species

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. [ [http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=05437210968 UnderwaterTimes | Nicaragua bans freshwater shark fishing amid dwindling population numbers ] ] , and the Wildlife Conservation Society and FFI has been involved in conservating the sea turtles. [http://www.fauna-flora.org/americas/turtles.html]

Protected areas

Nicaragua has 78 protected areas which cover about 20% of its landmass, [ [http://travel.guardian.co.uk/article/2006/sep/13/nicaragua.ecotourism.hotels Eco-tourism in Nicaragua | Travel | guardian.co.uk ] ] a number of which boast endangered species and are rich in biodiversity. [Nicaraguan Conservation on [http://www.earthisland.org/uap/conservation.html eathsisland.org] - COMAP (Co-Management of Protected Areas)] The National System of Protected Areas categorizes each protected area by:

*Nature Reserves
*Genetic Resource Reserves
*Nature Sanctuaries
*Private Nature Reserves
*National Monuments
*Historical Monuments

ee also

*Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA)
*Protected areas of Nicaragua
*Tourism in Nicaragua

References

External links

* [http://www.nicaragua.com/wildlife/ Nicaragua.com] on Wildlife
* [http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=05437210968 underwatertimes.com] Article on endangered shark in Nicaragua.
* [http://www.mcsuk.org/marineworld/turtles/wildlife+conservation+society,+nicaragua WCS] Adopt-a-turtle fund
* [http://centralamerica.com/nicaragua/parks/nationalpark.htm CentralAmerica.com] Information about National Parks
* [http://toursnicaragua.com/country_info.html More info] on reserves