Northwestern Belize has a high diversity of wildlife due to
extensive areas of intact natural habitat and relatively low
levels of human disturbance. The wide range of fauna reflects
the diversity of Northern Belize's many habitats. The following
are brief descriptions of the more common species you might
encounter when visiting each of the different ecosystems of
northern Belize. The list is by no means comprehensive. You can
easily access these areas at the Chan Chich/Gallon Jug area, the
Rio Bravo Conservation Area, and near the Lamanai Mayan site.
Most of the lowland broadleaf forests of northern Belize support
healthy populations of all 5 species of wildcat - Jaguar
(Panthera onca), Puma (Felis concolor), Ocelot (Felis pardalis),
Margay (Felis wiedii) and Jaguarundi (Felis yagouaroundi). NW
Belize is an area with perhaps the largest population of
wildcats in Belize probably because the natural prey base has
not been hunted out. Two species of monkey inhabit the broadleaf
forests of northern Belize. The h