Felines
Jaguars and pumas are two of the most capable predators in the Costa Rican jungles, with the jaguar sometimes approaching weights of 300 lbs. and pumas as long as a human can be tall. The ocelot, jaguarundi, and the margay are other felines found in Cost Rica but those are much smaller.
Snakes
The fer-de-lance and the coral snake are 2 of the 17 venomous snakes found in Costa Rica. There are some 135 species which have been documented in this nation, with the boas being the largest in terms of the lengths they can reach.
Monkeys
The biggest of the four monkey species found in Costa Rica is the howler monkey, which can weigh 12 pounds. The capuchin monkey, the spider monkey, and the smaller squirrel monkey also inhabit this region.
Birds
The beautiful quetzal has such bright plumage that those not native to the country actually thought it was a myth created by the locals until the first one was seen by a European scientist in 1861. Six kinds of toucans and two types of macaws also live in Cost Rica.
Sloths
The two-toed and the three-toed sloths exist in the Costa Rican rain forest, living in the trees and feeding on leaves. These slow-moving creatures spend almost all of their life upside-down, hanging from branches with their claws.
Bats
More than half of all the mammal species in Costa Rica are some type of bat. These include large fruit-eating kinds and the smallish vampire bat. One bat that lives in Costa Rica actually used its senses to capture fish---the fishing bulldog bat.
