Costa Rica Wildlife

Even though everyone recognizes a howler monkey but its picture or is aware of its amazing howl. We really know very little about this creature.

Here are some fast facts to help you connect better with it. And if you're visiting Costa Rica, chances are, you will not only connect with it through paper, but up close and personal!

1. Howler monkeys are the largest of all new world monkeys
2. They are native to Central and South America
3. They can live in altitudes as high as 2,500 meters above sea level
4. They can grow as long as 92 cm, excluding their tails which can grow to equal size.
5. Their tails are prehensile, meaning they can hold, grasp and manipulate items with it
6. They can live up to 20 years
7. Males grow up to 7 kg and females only 5 kg
8. Their incredible howl can be heard more than 1 km away
9. The howls usually come sunrise, sunset, at people, airplanes, rain and thunder, or other howlers
10. By 12 weeks old, a howler is ready to leave his troop, which can range in size from 10-20 howlers
11. Females become sexually active by 3 years old
12. Howlers are extremely common in Costa Rican Forests
13. Howlers are picky foragers. They only eat certain parts of certain trees and only a certain amount

Corcovado National Park is the host of a lot of Howler Monkeys and I advise you not to poke them too much!



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One of the most intelligent mammals of the water is on constant Welcome Committee Watch when you arrive to the southern coastal areas of Costa Rica - Drake Bay, Osa Peninsula, Corcovado National Park and the nearby beaches.

Even though they are plentiful of these amazing animals in this part of the world they are still in danger of becoming extinct every day of their lives.

5 truths about the Pacific Spotted Dolphin

1. Dolphins are social and super playful creatures sometimes gathering in groups of 1,000 or more, especially in offshore populations. Although, groups of a few hundred are more norm.

2. Dolphins can easily swim up to 30 km/h and may speed next to boats, performing acrobatic leaps.



3. Females will have one calf every 2 to 3 years, after an 11½ -month gestation period. And the baby then nurses for 18 months.

4. The normal life expectancy of this animal is up to 45 years, but thousands are killed every year in nets of men fishing for yellow fin tuna. The spotted dolphin's diet is similar to tuna (ex: squid), and that's why dolphins are often with them. As a matter of fact, fishermen purposefully follow dolphins to the tuna,subsequently pulling them in with the catch.

5. In Japan 2,000 spotted dolphins are still intentionally killed every year for food.

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Did you know that there are over 200 mammal species living in Costa Rica? And did you know that out of the 200 species, 100 of them are bats and only four are monkeys!

Yet, the chances of seeing a monkey while visiting Costa Rica are extremely high. Maybe they're not as common as squirrels in NY or black bears in Alaska, but they do like to show their cute little faces about.

My advice, when you are staying in a super cool rain forest retreat/hotel wake up early and step outside. You'll hear howlers in the distance or right in front of you. You'll see spider monkeys hanging from branches with their super sonic tails and you'll see Capuchins looking earnestly for food. Plus, when you go to the National Park, go a bit early and hire a guide, they will almost always spot the monkeys!

Here's a list of the cute and silly creatures. This way when you do come face to face with a monkey, you'll know exactly what you're talking about!

Capuchins

I bet you know exactly who these guys are! They're the ones that dance around on leashes at different street fairs. These guys seem friendly, however, they are quite aggressive and extremely opportunistic. They will grab any opportunity to steal your food. They are omnivores and like to feast on leaves, insects, small lizards. They're even known to steal birds eggs and nestlings.

The best places to find them is inside Manuel Antonio National Park and Santa Rosa National Park.

Squirrel Monkeys

This is the smallest of all the Costa Rican Monkeys, also known as the Titi monkey. They are very social and it's not uncommon to find them in bunches of 30 or more. They too are omnivores, eating fruit, leaves, insects and lizards.

The best places to find them are in Manuel Antonio National Park and Corcovado National Park.

Spider Monkeys

The supreme acrobat! You can see this monkey swinging from branch to branch, usually in groups. Their famous prehensile tails, which is the size of their whole bodies, allows them to reach the hard to get fruits and branches.

At one point they were the most populated of all monkey species. Unfortunately, they are also the most sensitive to human intrusion and their numbers have declined drastically putting them on the endangered list. And even worse, they are known to be tasty and are hunted for their meat! With as many obstacles as they face, they are still in some abundance in Costa Rica due to the safety of national parks.

Howler Monkeys

Gratefully, this monkey is the least effected by human intervention and can survive in many different types of eco-systems. You can hear these amazing creatures howl early in the morning hours or around the time the sun is about to set. They are 100% herbivores, eating mainly fruits and leaves. They are loud to the ears, but extremely sedentary. I have had the luck of seeing them often because they live practically everywhere there are forests.

Keep your eyes open and I know you'll have a close-encouter too!

Please tell me all about it, I love monkey stories:)

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Costa Rica, as we all know, is a country in Central America. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean sea on either sides and has nearly eight hundred miles of coastline. Despite its small geographic size, Costa Rica is a world leader on several fronts. For example, it was the first country in the world to abolish its army. It has been spearheading the way in Americas in terms of Human Development and Environmental Performance, indices that don't always go along in developing nations. A pioneer in ecotourism, Costa Rica is a fine example for nations that wish to carry their economic progress hand in hand with their environment's sanctity. By placing nearly a quarter of its territory under a Protected Areas system, Costa Rica is doing just that. And its efforts have borne fruit. Today this small Latin American country is considered to be the greenest in the world. And it possesses the highest density of species found anywhere across the globe.

Naturally, the preservation of habitat means that there is a good biodiversity of predator and prey animals across Costa Rica's forests. These include no less than six distinct wild cat species, that reside there today. Let's take a brief look at each of these six wild cats in turn, starting with the largest..Jaguar, the top land predator in South and Central America, is the third largest big cat overall. Pound for pound it is amongst the strongest, possessing the most powerful jaws in family felidae. A versatile predator, the jaguar is adept at both land and water, taking down a variety of prey animals including peccaries, caiman, deer, foxes and even turtles. A beautiful spotted cat it has been persecuted in the past, alongside Costa Rica's other wild cats, for its coat. Fortunately it is now protected and resides in select locations across the country including the national parks Santa Rosa, Corcovado and Tortuguero.Next is the Cougar, again one of America's apex predators that is perhaps the most ubiquitous large predator across the Western Hemisphere. A muscular and athletic animal, the cougar is an ambush predator. It stalks its prey patiently before attacking with full momentum, generally reaching its prey within a couple of bounds. Like the jaguar it hunts a variety of animals, and like its larger cousin, the puma is faring better owing to better protection of its habitat and prey animals.Next is the Jaguarundi, an otter-like feline that, like the cougar, has a uniform coat. Another versatile cat, the jaguarundi hunts fish, mammals and even birds. Principal threats to this unique cat are loss of habitat and prey since its fur is fortunately not in great demand.The next three are the beautiful spotted cats of South and Central America - the Ocelot, Margay and Oncilla. Ocelot is the largest, and perhaps the prettiest. With a beautiful tawny coat patterned by rosettes it is gifted with a great natural camouflage. Still the ocelot is a nocturnal predator, making use of its great vision and sense of smell to hunt.
Quite similar in appearance and behavior to the ocelot, is the Margay. A nocturnal and territoreal animal the Margay essentially follows the same hunting patterns as its larger relative, the Ocelot, except for one significant feature that makes margay unique amongst all cats. For margay is the best tree climber amidst all felines, a feat made possible by its flexible ankle joints that allow movement of 180 degrees around the axis, giving the margay nearly ape-like arboreal skills. Like the ocelot it mainly hunts small animals including lizards, frogs and even small monkeys on trees!Last amongst the wild cats of Costa Rica is the smallest, the Oncilla or Tiger Cat. Also known as the Little Spotted Cat, oncilla is roughly the same size as the domestic cat. A nocturnal and terrestrial predator, the oncilla is also a good tree climber and efficient bird hunter. Other prey animals include rodents and small reptiles.

These are the six wild cats currently documented in Costa Rica. All are masterful predators within their domain, playing their part in maintaining the delicate ecosystem of this beautiful country. With better protection and increased awareness, today they are doing better than in the past. However, it is important to continue to protect them and their habitat, as well as spread the message of conservation in the upcoming generations to preserve these beautiful felines, Costa Rica's national treasures and ambassadors!
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In the whole wide world there are only seven sea turtle species, four of them frequent Costa Rica and nest here. Out of these four all of them are on the highly critical endangered species list.



Reasons for declining populations:

1. Destruction of habitat. The turtle can not come back to a beach that is now used by humans due to bright lights.
2. Out of all Pacific Leatherback turtles 65% of them get hooked by log lines of commercial fisheries resulting in 20% death rate.
3. Hunting and egg poaching is coming to a slow halt. Although, it's hard to break tradition and the turtle egg is hot on the black market which is believed to raise a man's libido.

4 types of turtles that come to Costa Rica's shores:

Olive Ridley Turtle - These are the famous turtles known for their amazing numbers. They come to the shores of Santa Rosa National Park and Ostional National Wildlife Refuge by the hundreds of thousands from July to November. In an effort to save the animals, it is legal to harvest a limited amount of their eggs, which are for sale at local markets.

Leatherback Turtle- This is the most endangered sea turtle in the world. They have been around for over 65 million years, yet in the past 20 years their numbers have declined from 1100 a season to 70 a season. You can see this magical creature lay her eggs with a professional tour at the Playa Grande National Marine Park from December to March. Plus, they come to the shores of Tortuguero National Park, but it's harder to see them nesting there.

Green Turtle - This turtle represents the rare success story thanks to a very devoted organization - Caribbean Conservation Corporation (CCC). The scientist that started to come to Tortuguero National Park's shores to study these creatures since 1970's realized how quickly they were declining and how important of a coastline Tortuguero was. From the 70's to the 80's their numbers fell from 15,000 to 3,000. All the while, CCC fought to make this a national park, which it did in 1978. Since then the numbers have reached astounding numbers of 20,000 per season for breeding and nesting from the months of June to September.

Hawksbill Turtle - Their main nesting site is Marino Ballena National Park from May to November with an occassional appearance in Tortuguero. There are only 23,000 of these turtles left worldwide.

If you are in Costa Rica for any of these nesting season, I highly highly recommend you join a professional tour to see this natural wonder in person!

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As I said before, I've been to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica many times. I've seen a few sloths on the tree tops and wondered if I was really looking at a leaf or a sloth.

After my amazing visit to the Sloth Rescue Center (Aviarios Del Caribe), I was bumping into these creatures left and right.

First, I was driving to the store and got stuck in a minor traffic jam. Instead of waiting in their cars, everyone was out on the road looking at something. So I joined the crowd. Right there, at its own leisurely rate a sloth was crossing the road. The sloth is one of the slowest animals on earth and certainly took its sweet time crossing over. Finally someone picked it up with a stick and helped it along. At this rate, if we had waited for him to cross on his own, I'm sure it would have taken at least an hour. And you know what? What's the rush?

After that, I was chilling out at a restaurant when, Jim, the owner of Costa Rica Genie, told me there was a sloth by the pool area. We quickly ran over to find it and there it was just lounging, eating, and sleeping! It was so close that I didn't even have to reach up to touch it.

You better come quick. The sloths are waiting for you!

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