Rainforest Animals: 25 Species From the Amazon to Borneo

Why do rainforests have so many animals?

Tropical rainforests lie near the equator, where temperatures stay warm all year and rain falls in every month, usually 1,750–3,000 mm (69–120 in) a year. Plants grow nonstop, so there is always food. Many rainforests have also been stable for millions of years, giving species time to evolve and specialize. The variety of trees alone is staggering: the Amazon, the largest rainforest, covers about 6 million km² (2.3 million sq mi) and holds an estimated 16,000 tree species.

The layers of the rainforest

A rainforest is built like a tall apartment block, and each floor has its own residents:

• Emergent layer: scattered giant trees, usually 45–55 m (150–180 ft) tall, home to eagles, bats and butterflies.
• Canopy: the dense roof of leaves, where most animals live, including monkeys, sloths, toucans and tree frogs.
• Understory: a dim, humid layer of young trees and shrubs used by big cats, snakes and many insects.
• Forest floor: dark and damp, receiving only a tiny share of the sunlight, where okapis, tapirs, cassowaries and armies of ants forage.

Central and South America

1. Jaguar

The jaguar is the largest cat in the Americas and has an exceptionally powerful bite for its size, strong enough to crack turtle shells. It loves water and hunts caimans, fish and capybaras along rivers. It is Near Threatened, mainly because of forest loss.

2. Sloths

Three-toed sloths such as the brown-throated sloth, and two-toed sloths such as Hoffmann’s, spend almost their whole lives hanging in the canopy. Green algae grow in their fur and help hide them. They climb down only about once a week to defecate.

3. Keel-billed toucan

The keel-billed toucan’s rainbow-colored bill makes up about a third of its 42–55 cm (17–22 in) length, but it is light, built of a honeycomb of bone and keratin. It lives in forests from southern Mexico to northwestern South America and is Near Threatened.

4. Scarlet macaw

These brilliant red, yellow and blue parrots fly in noisy pairs and flocks over lowland forests from Mexico to the Amazon. In Peru and elsewhere, hundreds gather at riverbank “clay licks” to eat mineral-rich clay, which supplies sodium that their diet lacks.

5. Harpy eagle

One of the most powerful eagles in the world, the harpy eagle hunts sloths and monkeys in the canopy. A female’s rear talons average about 12 cm (5 in) long. It is Vulnerable, and Panama has made it its national bird.

6. Golden poison frog

This bright yellow frog from the Pacific rainforests of Colombia is one of the most poisonous animals known. Its toxins come from the insects it eats in the wild, so frogs raised in captivity are harmless. It is Endangered.

7. Strawberry poison dart frog

This tiny red frog of Central America is a devoted parent. The mother carries each tadpole on her back to a small pool of water in a plant, such as a bromeliad, and returns to feed it with unfertilized eggs. It is Least Concern.

8. Red-eyed tree frog

Sleeping by day on leaves, the red-eyed tree frog is green and hard to spot. If disturbed, it suddenly opens its red eyes and flashes its blue and yellow sides, which may startle a predator. Females lay eggs on leaves over water, and the tadpoles drop in when they hatch.

9. Green anaconda

The heaviest snake in the world lives in the swamps and slow rivers of the Amazon and Orinoco basins. Females are much larger than males. Anacondas are not venomous; they squeeze their prey, which includes fish, birds, capybaras and caimans.

10. Leafcutter ants

Leafcutter ants carry pieces of leaves back to their underground nests, not to eat but to grow a fungus that feeds the colony. One nest can hold several million ants, with workers of different sizes doing different jobs.

Africa

11. Western gorilla

Western gorillas live in the lowland rainforests and swamp forests of the Congo Basin in family groups led by a silverback male. They eat mostly leaves, stems and fruit. Disease, especially Ebola, and poaching have made them Critically Endangered.

12. Chimpanzee

Chimpanzees live in rainforests and woodlands across equatorial Africa. They are skilled tool users: they fish for termites with stripped twigs and crack nuts with stones. They are Endangered.

13. Bonobo

Bonobos live only south of the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their groups are led by females, and they settle conflicts more peacefully than chimpanzees. They are Endangered.

14. Okapi

The okapi, with zebra-striped legs, is actually the only living relative of the giraffe. It lives only in the rainforests of the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and was described by Western scientists only in 1901. It is Endangered.

15. African forest elephant

Smaller than the savanna elephant, the forest elephant has straight, downward-pointing tusks and spreads the seeds of many rainforest trees. The IUCN recognized it as a separate species in 2021 and listed it as Critically Endangered because of ivory poaching.

16. Mandrill

The mandrill is the largest monkey in the world, and adult males have bright red and blue faces. Mandrills live in the rainforests of Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of the Congo, sometimes in groups of several hundred. They are Vulnerable.

17. Grey parrot

The African grey parrot, famous for copying human speech, lives in the rainforests of West and Central Africa. Trapping for the pet trade and forest loss have made it Endangered.

Asia

18. Bornean orangutan

The Bornean orangutan is one of the largest tree-dwelling animals and spends most of its life in the canopy, building a fresh sleeping nest of branches each night. Forest clearing for plantations has made it Critically Endangered. Learn where orangutans live.

19. Tiger

Sumatran and Malayan tigers prowl the rainforests of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. Tigers are the largest cats in the world and are Endangered, threatened by poaching and the loss of forests to farming.

20. Sunda pangolin

Covered in overlapping scales made of keratin, the same material as fingernails, the Sunda pangolin rolls into a ball when threatened and eats ants and termites. Pangolins are among the most trafficked mammals in the world, and this species is Critically Endangered.

21. Atlas moth

One of the largest moths in the world, the atlas moth has a wingspan of about 25–30 cm (10–12 in). Adults have no working mouthparts and live only a week or two, surviving on fat stored as caterpillars.

22. Rhinoceros hornbill

This large hornbill of Borneo, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula wears a curved, bright orange and red casque on top of its bill. Hornbills spread the seeds of fruiting trees across the forest. It is Vulnerable.

23. King cobra

The world’s longest venomous snake, usually 3.2–4 m (10.4–13 ft) long, lives in forests of South and Southeast Asia. It eats mainly other snakes and is the only snake known to build a nest for its eggs, which the female guards. It is shy and avoids people when it can.

Australia and New Guinea

24. Southern cassowary

This tall flightless bird, usually 1.5–1.8 m (4.9–5.9 ft), lives in the rainforests of northeastern Australia and New Guinea. It swallows fruit whole and spreads the seeds of many rainforest plants. It can kick hard if cornered, so it is best admired from a distance.

25. Raggiana bird-of-paradise

Males of this New Guinea bird gather in display trees, where they raise and shake cascades of orange-red plumes to impress females. It is the national bird of Papua New Guinea and appears on its flag.

Rainforests under pressure

Rainforests are being cleared for cattle ranching, soy and oil palm plantations, logging, mining and roads, and many of the animals above are threatened as a result. Protecting large connected forests, along with local and Indigenous communities that depend on them, is the most effective way to save rainforest wildlife. For a very different habitat, compare African savanna animals.