
FLORA & FAUNA
VALLE ESCONDIDO
Costa Rica has 6 percent of the world's biodiversity, learning about this with an experienced guide here in our nature reserve is an opportunity not to be missed.
This biological corridor hosts many animals and plants including the mighty strangler ficus tree, different epiphytes, and orchids, and protects endangered species such as the bellbird and puma.


Live in groups of 10-20, feeds mainly on fruits, flowers and buds. Males produce deep loud roars, mainly at dawn and dusk, but they also roar in response to thunder and other loud sounds. they can travel for miles.

Forewing length 2.8 inches. With slow floppy flight, passes along trails and waterways. Adult feeds on rotting fruit and carrion.

450 years plus old. Known as a strangler ficus (Higueron) as it starts out as an epiphyte at the top of another tree, eventually surrounding the tree which decays, leaving a hollow space through the centre.

Adults of both sexes are wingless. During the day they remain motionless. At night they search for food and mates.

Active day and night and highly social. Omnivores. Males are usually solitary, while females can be in groups of ten to forty with their young. They are agile climbers that usually sleep in the high branches of the canopy.

From the Arum family Aracaea. Found throughout Central America and into South America. Some varieties are a food source due to edible roots.

Found in a wide range of habitats. migrates from Pacific to Caribbean slopes. Adult will defend food plants from other butterflies.

One of the only three species endemic exclusively to mainland Costa Rica.

The only primate in Costa Rica that sometimes forages on the ground. Eats fruit, bugs, flowers, insects, small vertebrates and bird eggs. Lives in groups of five to thirty. They use tools and have been seen to kill snakes with sticks. Collect medicinal plants to rub on their fur as repellent, antiseptic and fungicide.

Multiple couples nest in a long burrow, sharing the role of protecting the eggs and young.


Diurnal and terrestrial, solitary or seen in couples. When startled, makes a strange grunting noise and puffs its fur out on its back end.