Costa Rica, Part III: wildlife

NOTE: Most of these photos are freeze-frame images from video clips taken with a Canon ZR-65MC digital video camera, which are at a lower resolution than still images, hence the smaller size.

Costa Rica & Nicaragua scenic photos, 2005

Exotic wild beasts of the tropics

Iguana, in Santa Rosa National Park.

Hermit Crab, which has taken up residence in a snail shell, Playa de Cacao.

White-faced (a.k.a. "Capuchin") monkeys, Playa de Cacao. We saw three or four of them for only about a minute, and the lighting conditions were mediocre. These were at least 150 feet away.

Spider Monkey, Corcovado National Park. We saw small family groups for several minutes each at two separate locations. They came within 50 feet or so.

(PROBABLE) Striped (or Brown) basilisk lizard, one of the "Jesus Christ lizards," named for their ability to race across water; Corcovado National Park. Thanks to Martin Schlaepfer for help in identification.

We also saw a Lesser anteater in a tree in that park, but the video image was poor quality.

Central American Agouti, Santa Rosa National Park. One of the many large rodents found in the New World tropics.

Variegated Squirrel, near downtown San José. Note the gray head and orange legs and belly. As in most Latin American countries, squirrels are not very common.