6 Exotic and Unique Native Animals in Colombia You Need to Know

Colombia is one of the countries on the continent of South America or Latin America. Colombia is a country that has a diverse landscape compared to other countries in Latin America. You can also know about native animals in Philiphine or native animals in Europe.

Colombia is a country traversed by large mountains in Latin America, the Andes. The climate experienced by Colombia is included in the tropical and isothermal climate category. This is because Colombia is a country that is close to the equator.

In addition, Colombia is also the country with the second most biodiversity in the world after Brazil. Colombia has more than 50 endemic mammals, 150 endemic reptiles, and 380 endemic amphibians.

Colombia has many unique animals that can only be found in the country. Well, here are some native Colombian animals that you can meet if you visit Colombia.

1. Andean Condor

Andean Condor is the largest bird species in the world. This bird is also the national bird of Colombia. Andean Condor is a bird that eats the carcasses and corpses of other predatory animals.

However, the Andean Condor is a rare animal. At present, there are only less than 100 Andean Condors in Colombia. Thus, Andean Condor is one of the protected animals. In Indonesia, there are some birds that have endangered categories.

If you want to see the form of Andean Condor, you can visit Cocora Valley, Purace National Park or Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia.

2. Pink River Dolphin

Pink river dolphin is a freshwater dolphin that lives in the Amazon River. As the name implies, pink river dolphin has a pink color on its body skin. Pink color on the body skin of pink river dolphin will appear with age.

Pink river dolphin is a shy and friendly animal with humans. Usually, tourists can see directly the pink river dolphin throughout Amazonia and Orinoquia.

This dolphin has the characteristics of a long snout and a round head. It would be very unfortunate, if you are on vacation to Colombia without witnessing this unique freshwater dolphin.

3. Cotton-top Tamarin

Cotton-top tamarin is one of the endemic primates that only exists in Colombia. This animal cannot be found in other countries, other than Colombia.

The uniqueness of Tamarin’s Cotton-top lies in the crest on its head. The crest on the head of this animal is like white cotton. Cotton-top tamarin is known as an animal that is full of curiosity and likes to screw up.

However, the tamarin cotton-top population is getting smaller. For tourists who want to see tamarin cotton-top, you can see it in Tayrona National Park which allows tourists to see tamarin cotton-top.

4. Poison Dart Frog

Colombia is one of the countries with the largest number of amphibian species in the world. Colombia has many wild frogs. In fact, most frogs in Colombia are colorful and very poisonous frogs.

One of them is Poison Dart Frog which is very poisonous. This frog is known as the most poisonous vertebrate in the world and is an endemic animal of the Pacific coast of Colombia.

This frog is usually golden yellow and has a size that is not so big. It is said that this frog was often used by local people as a weapon or poisoned arrow to kill game animals.

5. Basilisk Lizard

The Basilisk Lizard is a type of reptile that lives in the Colombian wild and one of world’s lizard species. The Basilisk Lizard is often called the Jesus Lizard. That is because the Basilisk Lizard can run on water at a speed of 1.5 m per second.

The Lizard Basilisk in Colombia has three types, namely the Ordinary Basilisk, the Brown or Striped Basilisk, and the West or Red-headed Basilisk. The basilisk has long toes on their hind legs. This toe serves to help them run.

Basilisk usually live in western Colombia which has a lower altitude. In addition, the Basilisk Lizard can also be found on Gorgona Island, 35km from the Pacific coast of Colombia.

6. Colombian Woolly Monkey

This animal is also an endemic native Colombian primate. The Colombian Woolly Monkey is categorized as ‘critically endangered’ by the IUCN. Thus, this monkeys are categorized as endangered primates in the world.

This animal is often referred to by the people of Colombia by the name of Mono Churruco.

Colombian Woolly Monkey has a body length of up to 1.3 m and a weight of 10kg. For tourists, you can see this animal in Cuevo de Los Guacharos National Park, Colombia.

Well, that was some endemic animals in Colombia. Actually, there are many other animals that have not been mentioned in this article. What’s more, there are hundreds of native endemic animals in Colombia.

If you are interested in seeing endemic native Colombian animals as above, you can immediately plan a vacation to Colombia after the COVID-19 pandemic ends. Hopefully this article useful and see you in the next article.