Animals of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean in U.S. zoos

A bridge between continents

Central America links North and South America, so it holds species from both the Nearctic and Neotropical realms. It is part of the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot and holds about 7 percent of the world's biodiversity. Costa Rica and Panama in the south are richer in species than Guatemala and Belize in the north. Its funnel shape also concentrates migrating birds on the Pacific Flyway, especially in spring and autumn.

The forests hold jaguars, cougars, spider monkeys, tapirs and anteaters. Baird's tapir is the largest native land mammal in both Central and South America, ranging from mangroves to cloud forest up to 3,600 m (11,800 ft). The black-handed spider monkey swings through the canopy using a prehensile tail that works as a fifth limb.

Mountains, cloud forests and lakes

Pine-oak forests run along the mountainous spine of the region at 600 to 1,800 m (2,000 to 5,900 ft), with montane and cloud forest above. These forests are rich in endemic animals. Almost half of the birds of the Talamancan montane forests of Costa Rica and Panama are found only there, and many amphibians depend on intact forest. The golden toad of Monteverde has not been seen since 1989 and is listed as extinct.

The Panamanian golden frog, actually a toad, may have been gone from the wild since 2007 after the chytrid fungus reached its streams. To the north, the axolotl is native only to Lakes Xochimilco and Chalco in the Valley of Mexico. It keeps its external gills for life and never leaves the water.

Islands of the Caribbean

The Caribbean islands are a separate biodiversity hotspot, with habitats from montane cloud forest and rainforest to cactus scrub. Rock iguanas of the genus Cyclura are restricted to the Neotropics, and several are confined to a single island. The rhinoceros iguana is endemic to Hispaniola, the Jamaican iguana to Jamaica, and the Grand Cayman blue iguana to Grand Cayman. The Cuban crocodile, the most land-adapted living crocodile, survives mainly in Cuba's Zapata Swamp.

Island animals are vulnerable. Giant owls and dwarf ground sloths vanished after humans arrived. The introduced Asian mongoose drove the Jamaican iguana so low that it was believed extinct between 1948 and 1990. The Cuban crocodile is now threatened by hybridization with the American crocodile.

Forest loss and recovery work

About 80 percent of Central America's vegetation has been converted to agriculture, and deforestation in Central America and Mexico runs at an estimated 1.2 percent a year. More than 300 of the region's species are threatened, 107 of them Critically Endangered. The yellow-naped amazon lost more than 92 percent of its population in three generations to deforestation and the pet trade.

Captive breeding and release can turn things around. Releases on Grand Cayman lifted the blue iguana from as few as 5 to 15 wild animals in 2003 to about 750 by 2012, and it was moved from Critically Endangered to Endangered. The Puerto Rican crested toad has been bolstered by the reintroduction of hundreds of thousands of zoo-raised tadpoles.