Wildlife of Costa Rica

I.S.B.N. 978-0-98160281-3 ( softcover )

U.S. Retail $29.95

Fiona A. Reid has a BA degree in Biology from Cambridge University and

an MSc in Animal Behavior from SUNY at Stony Brook, New York. She has

written and/or illustrated more than a dozen books on mammals, including

A Field Guide to the Mammals of Central America and Southeast Mexico (Oxford

University Press, second edition, 2009). While researching that book she lived

in Central America for two years, capturing small mammals and drawing them

from life. Fiona also wrote and illustrated a Peterson Field Guide to Mammals of

North America, published in 2006 by Houghton-Mifflin. Fiona is a Departmental

Associate of the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology at the Royal

Ontario Museum in Toronto.

Twan Leenders was born and raised in The Netherlands, where he completed

his doctoral exam in Biology, specializing in Animal Ecology. Since the early

1990s, he has worked (and lived) in various countries in Central America and

tropical Africa to study amphibians and reptiles. In recent years, his research has

focused on the precipitous decline in amphibian species and the dynamics of

surviving populations. After moving to the United States in 2001, he worked in

the Department of Vertebrate Zoology of Yale University’s Peabody Museum

of Natural History before joining The Connecticut Audubon Society in 2008

as the organization’s conservation biologist.

Jim Zook is an ornithologist who has lived and worked in Costa Rica since

1988. He first came to the country as a Peace Corps volunteer to teach

environmental education. A native of Ohio, he holds a BA degree in Zoology

from Colorado State University. He lives with his wife and son in Naranjo de

Alajuela.

Robert Dean has been studying and painting neotropical birds for twelve

years, during which time he has been on birding trips throughout the Americas,

both as guide and as tour participant. Born and raised in London, England,

he was a professional musician for eighteen years before moving to Costa

Rica, where he revitalized his childhood passion for wildlife and art. Previous

accomplishments include his artwork for The Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide

(Cornell University Press 2007); he is currently painting illustrations for an

upcoming field guide to the birds of Panama.

About the Authors

The Wildlife of Costa Rica

Fiona Reid, Twan Leenders, Jim Zook, Robert Dean

Sample spreads

Costa Rica, a peaceful nation with many and diverse animal species, is one of the best places in the world for wildlife watching and nature study. It has an excellent system of national parks and reserves, a wide choice of eco-lodges, and a cadre of professionally trained tourist guides. In a country no bigger than West Virginia, it is possible to leave the capital city of San José and find oneself, just a few hours later, in a high-elevation cloud forest, dense rainforest, savanna-like plain, or coastal habitat, each with a unique collection of animal species. There is an ever growing list of publications about the natural history of Costa Rica, ranging from scientific tomes such as Savage’s Reptiles and Amphibians of Costa Rica to laminated foldouts. In this book, we hope to provide a general presentation of the wildlife of Costa Rica that is at once lightweight and affordable, that provides details for identifying animals along with interesting facts about their natural history, and that also offers some tips for seeing them. This is not a guide to all the wildlife in Costa Rica indeed, such a guide would be encyclopedic in length and require an infinity of time to prepare—but it will serve as a useful, informative introduction to the animals seen on a walk through the forest. Selecting which species to include in the book—of all the mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and arthropods in Costa Rica—represented an interesting challenge. The majority of the species were selected because they are animals that are relatively easy to see and either beautiful or interesting in some other way (or both). A small group of charismatic or distinctive animals—the Jaguar and the Bushmaster, for example—were included even though you are unlikely to see them. It was thought that presenting some of these rare or secretive species would give a fuller picture of the amazing diversity of wildlife in the country. Plus, people want to know about these animals, even if the chances for seeing them are slim.