10 totally awesome Amazon animals

Today is Amazon Rainforest Day so I’ve decided to share some of the amazing animals that live there.

Related: 5 ways to help reduce deforestation

Amazon river dolphin

• Known as ‘pink river dolphin’
• Brain capacity is 40% bigger than ours
• Classed as vulnerable by WWF
• Dams, water and food is contaminated by mines which is why they are vulnerable
• Fishermen kill and injure them because they believe they are a threat to fish stocks

Giant otter

• Can be up to 7ft
• Classed as endangered and only 2000 – 5000 remain
• They are threatened by habitat loss and hunters (for their fur)

Spider monkey

• Live in the upper layers of the forest
• They are the most intelligent of the ‘new world’ monkeys
• Logging destroys their habitat

Capybara

• World’s largest rodent
• 4.4ft
• They live in groups of 100+
• Semi-aquatic
• Omnivore
• Can be kept as pets
• They are invasive species in the US -> believed to be in Florida as escaped or abandoned pets

Glass frog

• So transparent that you can see their internal organs!
• Mostly active at night so are very hard to spot
• During breeding season, they live alongside rivers and streams
• They leave the frogspawn on leaves overhanging the river and then go back to the canopy
• Some frogs even come back and care for their young which is very unusual
• They are a good bioindicator which is where they provide information and clues to the health of the environment they live in

Jesus lizard

• Also known as the ‘common basilisk’
• Can run up to 20m on water at over 5 miles/hour
• They run on their hind feet

Mata mata

• A turtle that is completely aquatic
• Odd shaped head, with a horn on and a long neck
• Although it never leaves the water, it can breathe air and walk
• They act as a vacuum when eating prey – goes straight through their stomach as they can’t chew

Kinkajou

• Known as ‘honey bear’, ‘bear monkey’ and ‘lion monkey;
• They are rarely seen by us because they are nocturnal and live in the treetops
• Classed as a carnivore but eat 90% fruit
• They are known as ‘honey bears’ because they drink nectar from flowers
• Can be kept as pets but are deadly to humans because they carry a potentially deadly parasite -> Roundworm

Piranha

• Suffer from bad press!
• They aren’t aggressive or dangerous
• The natives swim with them
• They rarely attack larger animals, including humans, they get most of their food from remains of already dead animals
• If they’re hungry or something drifts into their territory, they will attack

Guianan cock-of-the-rock

• 10 – 12 inches in size
• Semi circle crest on their heads
• Female -> olive grey
• Male -> bright orange
• The males have a ‘dance-off’ mating ritual with one female
• The female then gives a peck on the back of the one they choose and can end up watching 40 males before choosing!

I had a lot of fun finding out about all these animals, I think my favourite might be the Amazon river dolphin due to the fact that they’re pink! 🐬💗

Which of these animals are your favourites? And have you heard of any before?

Best wishes, Cx

Some of my info was from:

Pachamama Alliance

EnkiVillage

Reader’s Digest