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Toucans feed on a wide variety of fruits and play an extremely important role in dispersing the seeds of numerous species of plants and trees in the jungle.

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The ocelot is a land-based predator although it is able to climb with great agility through tall trees, whether to surprise a sleeping bird or monkey or to take refuge when surprised itself. It is a nocturnal predator and although it is land-based it is able to climb with great agility through tall trees, whether to surprise a sleeping bird or even a monkey. In Central America there are very few ocelots left due to the loss of their natural habitat. They live in the same areas as the jaguar, and their smallest cousin is the Margay, but as the ocelot targets smaller prey this avoids any confrontation between the three species. Among South American fauna, the ocelot is the third largest after the jaguar and the puma. It is also regarded as the most timid feline in the world, always hiding in the dense jungle vegetation. In appearance, we can justifiably say that it is one of the most beautiful felines in existence. It mainly hunts at night and is very accurate in its attacks: its usual prey are opossums (small tree-living marsupials about the size of a cat), agouties and birds, which it surprises while they are asleep. A very important strategy that the ocelot has developed is that while the jaguar hunts on the ground, the ocelot lies in wait up in the trees and bushes. Important. Ocelots are solitary animals and, above all, very timid; any kind of noise provokes a sudden stampede to find refuge at the top of a tree, where they always sleep. However, when faced with humans it runs away at great speed. This characteristic of being constantly elusive and on the alert has allowed it to escape any attempts to capture it to commercialize its beautiful skin.

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The deforestation of their habitat by agricultural and livestock overexploitation, illegal trade in skins, controls over predators and mass hunting of their prey have put the Jaguar on the verge of extinction in most of the areas it inhabits. The Jaguar probably descends from an ancient puma species which emigrated from the frozen regions of North America. It traps its prey by lying in wait in the undergrowth. It is not a threat to humans and hardly any threat to livestock (only to weak animals that wander into the jungle). It is the third largest feline on earth. It is not particularly fast, but is an agile climber that always captures its prey by surprise and not from the chase. Its favourite prey includes wild boar and capybaras, although it also feeds on tapirs, caimans and fish. Imagine the strength it must have in its jaws to open the tough skin of a caiman. It was highly venerated in Mayan culture for its power and beauty; the Mayans used to call it “Balam” and regarded it as a subterranean reincarnation of the night-time sun; the ferocious guardian of temples, tombs and thrones, the places which, in natural history, have been widely used by the jaguar to watch over its territory. Interesting facts: in the South American jungles, the population density is one jaguar per 25-30 km². In the forests where man has intervened, hunting its usual prey and taking away its refuges by felling trees, jaguars have been obliged to migrate to the depths of the immense Amazon jungle in search of peace and refuge. They have been almost exterminated in Mexico (there are fewer than 500 left) and decimated in Central America (around 1,000 left). The largest populations now remain in the vast virgin swathes of the Amazon basin, the swamplands and pristine forests of Colombia and Ecuador, with an estimated total of 15,000 animals. The saddest fact. In recent decades, due to the demand for its beautiful skin, as many as 15,000 jaguars were killed each year, a figure which today has fallen dramatically thanks to the increasingly stringent governmental controls and its inclusion on the list of protected species in the CITES convention.

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The macaw is capable of feeding from semi-toxic seeds. It then goes to clayey banks where it ingests enough mud to remove all the toxins associated with this diet in its excrement.

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During the courting period, males and females perform an elaborate ritual which is essential for selecting the ideal mate and to avoid reproducing by mistake with another species of stork, which would result in the birth of hybrids.

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Although their diet is mainly based on fruits and vegetables, in the driest season they feed on various types of fungi, small lizards and insects, which they trap at great speed among the branches of the trees. They live in small groups, usually of four, made up of one female and three males and their young, which leave the group around the age of two when they are semi-adult. They live in tall trees where they sleep in the holes left behind by woodpeckers or parrots. Occasionally they come down to ground level, where they move around by jumping on all four paws. They are very territorial with their own species, and can become very aggressive against invaders, occupying areas of 30-40 hectares which is a lot of space in proportion to their size. Interesting facts. They love flower nectar and they also lick the sap from trees, especially the Ficus genus, so the keepers give them a little acacia gum every day spread onto a branch, which is very similar in composition to some of the sticky saps in the jungle. They tend to associate with another species of marmoset with which they even cohabitate in large warrens in the tree trunks, although we do not know how long they stay together and how many times they meet up again. Where to see them: You can find them on the path entering the Central American village on the Marmoset Route; come and watch them living as if they were really in the jungle.

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When llamas feel threatened, they defend themselves by spitting an unpleasant mixture of saliva and food with great force. They are related to Asian camels and dromedaries, though much smaller. Llamas have adapted very well to living at high altitudes (between 3,500 and 4,800 metres) where it is even difficult for humans to breathe and move around. They now only exist as a domestic animal on the high plateaux of the Andes. A little history. During the Inca empire (11th to 16th centuries), their culture and economy revolved around the llama: they were used as beasts of burden in the silver mines, with their ability to carry up to 90 kg and cover distances of 26 kilometres a day. In ancient times, they provided meat and fleece to protect against the freezing Andean nights, and were sacrificed and offered to the sun in religious rituals. A curious fact. When they feel threatened by an object or nearby animal, they spit the contents of their stomachs towards the potential threat, which is actually nothing more than a fairly dry mush of grass, which they eject with huge force. Important. Today, these animals represent an important trading element in the large rural communities of the Aymara and Quechua tribes in the Peruvian and Bolivian high plateaux, where they are used as beasts of burden and their fleece is used to make clothes for local use, as the wool from this species is not of the quality of Alpaca. Of the three species of exclusively South American camelids – the llama, the alpaca and the guanaco – only the llama was used as a beast of burden. Its current population is 3.6 million, spread among small farms in villages and other larger operations. Where to see them: In the America zone they can be found in the domestic animals farm next to the Mayan Palomar.

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The upper jaw of the flamingo is rigid and the lower one is mobile. The beak and tongue act as a filter, retaining food and expelling sand. Their diet, rich in crustaceans, is what gives their plumage its rosy pink colour.