Big Five Animals of Costa Rica

Situated between two continents and two seas, Costa Rica is like a biographical bridge bursting with rich biodiversity. This small country provides some of the finest and most varied wildlife on the planet. This country has more than 500,000 different species (about 4% of all plant), insect and wildlife species on the Earth. The local wildlife of Costa Rica is one of the main reasons why many tourists travel to this tropical paradise from all over the world. Here are the big five animals of Costa Rica:

Dolphins:

In Costa Rica, Dolphins can be found all along the Pacific and Southern Caribbean Coasts. During the time between November and May, you can go for a coastal tour as in this time you can get chances of spotting them more as in this time they come to breed. If you can not get chance to swim with these friendly animals, you can observe them playing up and down the Pacific Coast. In coastal waters or off oceanic islands, you can find bottle-nosed dolphins and the common dolphins can be found more often in the open ocean, but sometimes swims in shallow waters. In the Pacific coast, this spotted dolphins can be found. And Golfo Dulce is the place where this species of dolphin is commonly seen. There are also other species like rough-toothed dolphin and spinner dolphin.

Monkeys:

In Costa Rica there are four species of monkeys and among those the most common is the white-faced capuchin. Howler monkeys make loud sound so you will likely hear them long before you see. Becareful about your lunch and hold it tight as there are some troops which rely on travelers sometimes heavily to collect foods. Four species of monkeys are white-faced capuchin, mantled howler monkey, squirrel monkey, spider monkey. White-faced monkeys are usually found in the wet lowland forests on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and Panama and also in the dry forest on the Pacific coast. Mantled howler monkeys live in the canopies of lowland and montane forests. Squirrel monkeys usually live in the tropical evergreen forests, mangroves, and secondary forests. Spider monkeys stay stay high off the ground in the canopy of tropical forests.

Sloths:

In Costa Rica, sloths are usually found hanging around the canopy of low and middle elevation forests. Sloths eat leaves that are not easily digest and produce little energy so the sloths move at the slow, lethargic pace to conserve energy. Unless the sloths doing their business, they rarely come down. If you want to see these sluggish critters, you will also have to make movements slowly just like the sloths so that you can spot them in the forest canopy.

Toucans:

In Costa Rica there are six types of toucan species and those are colorful, flashy as well as vibrant. These birds feed exclusively on fruit. They use their enormous bills as tools and grab berries and scoop the sweet flesh of the fruit. Keel-billed toucans are common from sea level to 1,200 m in forest, tall second growth, and pastures that contain some mature trees. Chestnut-mandibled Toucan is lives in the canopy of lowland and highland wet forests. Throughout Costa Rica, you will find many toucans if you head to the woods.

Tree Frogs:

There are 43 species of frogs in Costa Rica and those are different in colors and sizes. One of the most famous frog is the tree frog that has red eye. Those have bright and beautiful colors that warn other animals of their toxicity. This species of frog is nocturnal like many other frogs of Costa Rica. For watching tree frogs, you can go for a night hike and spot a variety of species.