Fauna of Venezuela
The fauna of Venezuela consists of a huge variety of animals. Venezuela's diverse wildlife includes manatees, Amazon river dolphins, and Orinoco crocodiles, which have been reported to reach up to 6.6 metres (22 ft) in length. Some 23% of reptilian and 50% of amphibian species that inhabit the country are endemic to Venezuela. Overall, around 8,000 species (the world's 5th highest total) are endemic to the country.
Venezuela hosts a total of 1,417 bird species, more than 351 mammals, 341 reptiles, 315 amphibians and more than 2000 freshwater and marine fishes.[1] Invertebrates groups have not been inventoried exhaustively, but among the well known groups there are around 1600 butterfly and over 120 dung beetles species.[2]
Birds
48 of which are endemic.[3] Important birds include ibises, ospreys, kingfishers,[4] and the yellow-orange Venezuelan troupial, the national bird.
Mammals
Notable mammals include the giant anteater, jaguar, howler monkey, and the capybara, the world's largest rodent. More than half of Venezuelan avian and mammalian species are found in the Amazonian forests south of the Orinoco.[5]
Importance
The use of wildlife products is widespread in Venezuela, and more than 400 species are known to be used as a source of protein (subsistence hunting) or for trade in domestic and international markets.[6]
Conservation
Habitat destruction, pollution, introduction of exotic species and overexploitation are the main threats to venezuelan wildlife.[1]
See also
- List of Poriferans of Venezuela
- List of birds of Venezuela
- List of mammals of Venezuela
- List of introduced molluscs of Venezuela
- List of marine molluscs of Venezuela
- List of molluscs of Falcón state, Venezuela
- List of non-marine molluscs of El Hatillo Municipality, Miranda, Venezuela
- List of non-marine molluscs of Venezuela
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ Dydynski, K; Beech, C (2004). Venezuela. Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1-74104-197-2. Retrieved 10 March 2007. p42
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External links
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