Animals 

Animal Kingdom Extremes and Rarities

• World’s highest numbers of fish (420) and bat (90) species for any area this size (See selected bats in the online mammal guide.)
• World’s largest scaled freshwater fish - Arapaima
• World's largest alligator/caiman - Black Caiman
• World’s largest anteater - Giant Anteater
• World’s largest otter - Giant Otter
• World’s largest freshwater turtle - Giant River Turtle
• World's largest snake - Anaconda
• World's largest pit viper - Bushmaster (see venomous snakes)
• World's largest rodent - Capybara (see large rodents in the online mammal guide.)
• Americas' largest eagle - Harpy Eagle
• South America's largest cat - Jaguar
• South America's largest bat - False Vampire Bat
• Over 500 species of birds

Species Diversity

The Iwokrama Forest holds an incredible animal diversity estimated to be at least 200 mammals, 500 birds, 420 fish and 150 species of amphibians and reptiles. More than 30% of the mammals and many other animals are listed as endangered under the International Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This healthy animal population helps make the region a prime conservation and ecotourism area within Guyana and the Guiana Shield.

The species richness of the Iwokrama Forest that has been determined so far is in summary below. (Click on a Taxonomic Group Name for its species list.)