Costa Rica Sightseeing: The Wildlife! By David Lovendahl At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

There is so much to see and do when you visit Costa Rica…once you leave the beach and the city. Surprised? Well, don’t be! Despite what you might have heard, the real attraction in Costa Rica isn’t the nightlife. It’s the wildlife.

Costa Rica is one of the most ecologically diverse nations in the world and that’s not just lip service. It’s fact. Costa Rica is home to more than 10,000 varieties of plants, 1,000+ fish, hundreds of amphibians and reptiles, and tens of thousands of insect species. To get an idea of just how much wildlife there is in Costa Rica, think of it this way: There are approximately 16 unique species within every square kilometer of Costa Rica’s rich land. Some of my favorites include the Sloth, Leatherback Sea Turtle, Vampire Bat, Costa Rican Tapir, and Three-wattled Bellbird. Bet you haven’t heard of any of those, have you? I hadn’t either until I started visiting Costa Rica.

Well, here’s a crash course on Costa Rica’s exotic wildlife:

A Sloth is a species of animal that’s kin to the anteater and armadillo. The two varieties of Sloth that still exist in Costa Rica are the Brown-throated, Three-toed Sloth and the larger Hoffmann’s Two-toed Sloth. Meanwhile, the Leatherback Sea Turtle is the largest species of turtle in the world. Leatherback Sea Turtles can weigh up to 1100 pounds!

The Costa Rican Tapir is a unique site to see because it will remind you of animals that you’re familiar with but you’ll still know that you’re looking at something completely new. The Costa Rican Tapir (aka Baird’s Tapir), if you can imagine it, looks like a cross between a hog and a short-trunk elephant. It’s not actually a cross between the two but that’s what it looks like. Despite their size and girth—Costa Rica Tapirs can weigh as much as 600 pounds—Tapirs are typically gentle creatures. Other types of Tapirs are indigenous to other parts of Central and South America as well as other countries.

Moving on to exotic winged animals that are part of Costa Rica’s wildlife, the Three-wattled Bellbird hides out in Costa Rica’s cloud forests. Sightings, because of the cloud cover, are rare. However, hearing these exotic birds is quite common. If you take a daylight eco-tour to a cloud forest, you’ll know the Three-wattled Bellbird is nearby when you hear the male’s call, which sounds like the high-pitched clang of two pieces of metal hitting one another.

Finally, the Vampire Bat; they’re just what you’d think of when you think of a vampire…except Vampire Bats don’t sleep in coffins. Instead, Vampire Bats live in dark caverns. The Vampire Bats, like vampires often portrayed in movies, do thrive in the night and feed on the blood of mammals. But don’t worry. You’ll be safe if you visit Costa Rica because the mammals the vampire bats feed on tend to be domesticated animals, poultry and cattle.

Where Costa Rica’s exotic animals are found is just as diverse as the type of wildlife. Cloud forests, as I mentioned earlier, as well as rainforests, jungles, wetlands, and natural parks are just some of the nature-rich areas that the wildlife inhabits. In all, there are more than two-dozen unique wildlife habitat regions situated across the country. If you’re planning on visiting Costa Rica anytime soon, the major exotic animal havens are Corcovado National Park, Amistad International Park, Turrialba Volcano National Park, and Las Baulas National Marine Park.

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