PARKS AND TRIBES

2000+ ANIMALS ECUADOR, 6 DANGEROUS, CONDOR NATIONAL ANIMAL

FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN ACTUALLY GET TO SEE A GREAT NUMBER OF BIRDS AND MAMMALS OF ECUADOR ON OUR NATURE CULTURE TOUR ALONG ALL ECUADOR'S LANDSCAPES!

Ecuador's Native Animals lists

Ecuador's native animals lists: is among the world's longest. In fact, Ecuador is the world's smallest megadiverse country and has the world's greatest biodiversity per hectare. See our Complete Mammals List Complete Bird List

This diversity is the result of several factors:

1. It is one of the only 10 continental countries on the equator, most of which are characterized by humid tropical conditions;

2. Being on the equator, most rainforests have relatively little seasonal variety, allowing more species to survive than in regions with more seasonal fluctuation in precipitation and temperatures;

3. The Andes Mountains divide the country into three different zones, each with its own unique set of species;

4. The coastal region of Ecuador is located in the transition zone between the world's wettest region, the Choco in Colombia, and the southern Andean deserts that start in Peru, and as a result, it is home to many endemic species.

However, even though having the greatest number of animal species, South America - including Ecuador - has no terrestrial macrofauna, like Africa and Asia. The largest predator is the Jaguar and the largest hoofed animal is the Lowland Tapir, a mid-sized ungulate.

On the other hand, with regard to birds and reptiles, Ecuador holds its ground with the world's largest flying bird, the Andes Condor and the giant tortoises of Galapagos. On this page you find the 25 most spectacular animals, most of which in high resolution photographs, which you can see at full size by clicking on the pictures. You will find our own complete lists of the birds and the mammals of Ecuador below at the corresponding chapters.

Animals of the Ecuador Rainforest

There is quite a bit of confusion about the diversity of different habitats, the greatest diversity is found in the wet lowlands, where the native animals of Ecuador rainforest list is the longest. There is quite a hype about the diversity of the Andes cloud forests, but in fact they are much less diverse than the lowlands, and the number of species decreases dramatically with elevation. Paramos are very species poor for tropical ecosystems.  In fact, about 1000 m, there are only a few fish species of one single genus. Also Mangroves are notoriously poor in species diversity, even though the numbers of some species may be quite large.

Endangered species of Ecuador

Being so species rich, there are countless endangered animals in Ecuador, many not even known to science. That is why each one of the 68 protected areas of Ecuador is so important. Take a look at all protected area in Ecuador with a scoring for visitation, beauty and access.

Dear visitor, our website gives you info about our National Parks Tours, our Galapagos programs, the Cuyabeno Loop, as well as our Cuyabeno  and Cofan Lodges in the Amazon. For those who want to combine the Exuberant Nature of Ecuador with the Famous culture of Peru, we even have a 7 days Highlights of Peru extension! Our website gives you the best information on the internet, like Ecuador Travel Guide, because we are the only tour operator run by professional biologists. Take a look:

MAMMALS

Our mammal list of Ecuador has 450+ species of mammals, the most abundant group being bats, that you can see everywhere, followed by the rodents. About 25 species of mammals are endemic to Ecuador. The largest mammal is the Mountain or Woolly Tapir. This is the complete list of mammals of Ecuador.

Monkeys

21 species of monkeys are known from Ecuador with 10 occurring in the Amazon of Ecuador: The Pygmy marmoset, Cebuella pygmaea, is the world's second tiniest monkey.  The Black Mantle Tamarin, Saguinus nigricollis, the Spix's Night Monkey, Aotus vociferans, the Coppery Titi Monkey, Callicebus cupreus, Yellow-handed Titi Monkey, Callicebus lucifer, the Collared Titi Monkey, Callicebus torquatus, the Monk Saki, Pithecia monachus, the Common Squirrel Monkey, Saimiri sciureus, the White-fronted Capuchin Monkey, Cebus albifrons, Long-haired spider monkey Ateles belzebuth, the Red Howler Monkey, Alouatta seniculus, and the Brown Woolly Monkey, Lagothrix lagotricha, many of which can be seen regularly. Monkeys are rarely found above 1000masl.

Brown Woolly Monkey, Lagothrix lagotricha. Below: Yellow-handed Titi Monkey, Ateles belzebuth.

Lowland Tapirs, animals in Ecuador that may be dangerous... Read all about dangerous animals in Ecuador. Tapirs are are also happy in water. Highly appreciated for their meat, they are hunted heavily anywhere outside the reserves. One rarely sees one in Cuyabeno and Yasuni National Park, but they are there. Higher up along the Andes occurs the Woolly Tapir, Tapirus Pinchaque, which however is rarely seen.

Capybaras, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris, are the largest rodents on earth. They live along the banks of rivers and can be frequently seen in Cuyabeno and Yasuni. Of course there are many other species of rodents, and often one can see porcupines.

SOME MAMMALS OF THE ANDES

While the Andes has far less species than the Amazon, the species composition is very different. Below you will see a few species that are typical for the Andes.

Predators

Most predators live in the lowlands and quite a few of them actually like water or at least tolerate it. Some of the predators include: Both the Jaguar, Panthera onca, and the Ocelot, Leopardus pardalis, like water rich forests; Jaguars are known to actually like swimming. These, and several other species of cats are present in Cuyabeno and Yasun? Particularly at night, you can see them sneaking across low hanging branches, when you go looking for crocodiles. With a bit of luck, all of a sudden the eyes of a big cat are caught in your flashlight. Both Jaguars, Panthera onca, and Pumas or Mountain Lions, Puma concolor, - which also live in both parks - avoid people and are rarely seen, even by the indigenous people. Both species are on the endangered animals of Ecuador list.

The South American coati, or ring-tailed coati, Nasua nasua, is a common predator in the Amazon region. Both the Giant Otter, Pteronura brasiliensis, and the Neotropical Otter, Lutra longicaudis, belong naturally in the eastern lowlands. They do occur however in the major reserves of Ecuador's Amazon region.

Besides Mountain Lions, the largest predators are the Spectacles Bear and the Andean Fox.

Dolphins

In the a water-drenched Amazon Region, two species of dolphins live in the rivers:

The Pink Amazon Dolphin, Inia geoffrensis, can be recognized by its hump-shaped dorsal fin and the more pronounced hump on its head and longer snout. Particularly the males may be pink, but in the Amazon of Ecuador they are mostly gray. The Pink Amazon Dolphin can turn its head 90 degrees each way. Dolphins can be seen almost daily at the Cuyabeno Great Lake, darting around the canoe and sometimes swimming with the swimmers. When the water level is high, dolphins even enter the flooded forest in pursuit of fishes that feed on nuts and seeds from the flooded forest floor.

The Gray Amazon Dolphin or Tucuxi, Sotalia fluviatilis, can be recognized by its shark-like triangular dorsal fin. Its belly is lighter and varies from light grey to pinkish. It has a closely related relative in the coastal waters of South America, but that species does not swim as deeply into the Amazon region as the Tucuxi. More so than the Pink Amazon Dolphin, Tucuxis tend to jump out of the water.

Bats

With so many insects to feast on, it is obvious that there are lots of bats in the Cuyabeno Nature Reserve Ecuador

Ecuador has some 175 species of bats. At night you can see many flying through the jungle and across rivers and lakes. But even in daytime you can see some flying low over the water. Some species hang from low braches above the water, and when you pass by them, they may fly off their resting places but sometimes you get lucky and can see them from closeby.

BIRDS

National Animal, the Andes Condor

The Andean Condor is Ecuador's national bird.

With almost 1700 species, Ecuador has the third longest Complete Bird List in the world after Brazil and Colombia. But if you consider the comparatively small size of Ecuador, it has the greatest bird diversity per hectare worldwide.

The country has some 30+ birds of pray and just the hummingbirds account for an amazing 150+ species, several of which being endemic.

Almost 1700 species of birds have been seen in Ecuador, thus being the most biodiverse country worldwide by size.

REPTILES

Many reptiles also like a to snatch up insects, although some of them also like other animals of Ecuador for dinner, such as amphibians, birds and even peccaries and deer, as is the case of anacondas and Black Caiman. More than 350 reptiles are known to Ecuador, to which belong some 200 species of snakes, 40 of which are poisonous.

AMPHIBIANS

Other groups of the animal kingdom also love taking it out on insects: the Amphibians:

The total number of species of amphibians is surpasses the 635, of which 57% (363 species) are categorized as Threatened, 12% (78 species) as Near Threatened, 4% (26 species) as Data Deficient, and 27% (168 species) as Least Concern. Two-third of the amphibian species are frogs and toads. Many in the Amazon region of Ecuador as well as in the Andes rainforests. In fact, when taking a tour in the Amazon, most of the nightly sounds are made by amphibians! But if you want to take some pictures of them - unless you know how and where to look for them - you rarely can find them. Some of those noisy little animals are 1 or 2 centimeters with colors and patterns to make them extremely hard to spot. When you get close, the stop making their calls, but when you are gone, they resume singing.

FISHES

951 species of fresh water fishes have recorded for Ecuador, but there should be many more, as some 20,000 species of fishes are known to live in the Amazon watershed. However we don't know how many of them live in Ecuador, possibly over 10,000. All of them live below 1.000 m,  as no native fish species in South America can jump waterfalls and only few can even pass rapids. Only 7 native species of fish live above that line and in the Andes highlands.

Some spectacular fishes are the gigantic Paiche,  Amazon Catfish and the Pirana, all living in the Amazon watershed. Fishing is no longer allowed in the parks, other than by the local residents and for personal use. , there are a great number of fishes, including the infamous piranas, as well as the.

The number of oceanic and coastal fishes is better known as they are more widespread along the world's oceans. The total number for Ecuador is about 450 species.

The coastal ichteofauna of Ecuador is far less diverse and to some extent related to the Galapagos marine animals, iguanas and other  ichteofauna.

ARTHROPODS

Of course the jungle is home to a fabulous variety of the most wonderful insects, big and small: colorful moths and butterflies, odd shaped beetles, dragonflies, etc. etc. After more than two decades in the reserve, we learned that for insects, every night is different. Some nights great numbers of very different species are attracted by lights, while other nights insects abound, but most of them only belonging to only a few species. Nobody knows how many arthropods live in Ecuador, but wild guesses range from 10,000 to 50,000. Some insects and spiders are really strange-looking.

When on excursion at night in the Amazon, you should look for nocturnal insects and spiders on the ground with your flashlight.

Great moths.

Some evenings, insects come in great variety, while other evenings, only a few different species fly about. Particularly the moths that come after the lights of the lodge, are of great beauty and if you are lucky, you may see a few of these species of the "hummingbirds" of the insect world show off their incredibly rapid wing beats.

Caterpillars.

Caterpillars appear in amazing shapes and colors and are always a thankful subject for photographers.

Of course their adult life forms are also well-represented. Many diurnal butterflies like to gather at specific places, supposedly to nourish themselves with minerals.

Butterflies.

Spiders and other Arthropods

And then of course there are spiders, in many sizes and colors:

The Andean Condor is the largest flying bird in the world and it is on the endangered animals of Ecuador list.

Click for a complete list of the birds of Ecuador.

For detailed information on climate and weather conditions read: climate of Cuenca, Ecuador; climate Galapagos Islands in Ecuador; climate in the Amazon of Ecuador and climate of Ecuador. If you want to learn more about the country, read Ecuador Facts. These Parks programs help you find out how you can get to see many of these fantastic wild animals, yourself or about interesting and famous places of Ecuador.

CONDOR NATIONAL ANIMAL ECUADOR, 2000+ NATIVE, 6 DANGEROUS [PIRANHA NOT]