Animals on Bonaire

There are a large number of animals living on Bonaire. Some of them are present on Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao only.

Like other islands in the Caribbean, there are different reptiles and amphibians living on Bonaire. There are about 16 different species on Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. One of the most common lizard is the blau-blau or blue whiptail lizard (Cnemidophorus Murinus Ruthveni). This lizard is very familiar with the lizard on Aruba. The totèki is a small tree lizard (Phyllodactylus Martini). If there is danger or if he wants to impress a female lizard, he can extent and retract his orange-yellow colored  throat pouch. A small gecko, the pega pega (Gonatodes Antillensis of Gymnodactylus Antillensis) is only a few centimeters in length. The pega pega is most of the time in the vicinity of houses, preferable in the dusk trying to catch insects. There is one little snake on Bonaire, the silver snake. This one is completely innocent and eats only small insects. By far the largest reptile on Bonaire is the iguana. It can reach over 5 feet in length. Iguanas are used to people in Washington Park so it is easy to approach them there from a close distance.

There are a few large mammals on Bonaire that were introduced by the Spanish and Dutch for different reasons: cats, dogs, goats, donkeys and horses. Goats and donkeys walk around on the island. Pay attention to the goats and donkeys walking on the roads.

There are 9 different bats living on Bonaire. During the day they hide in caves. Bats are important for the pollination of cactus flowers.

There are about 200 different birds on Bonaire. One of the well known birds is the flamingo. They are most numerous in Washington Park and Salt Lake. The yellow-shouldered parrot (lora) is an endangered species found on Bonaire and a few other places. The lora looks like the Bonaire parakeet prikichi (Aratinga Pertinax). There are different water birds near beaches, salt lakes and mangroves like the stilts, white herons and avocets. Near the coast you can see frigatebirds, brown pelicans, cormorants and ospreys. The orange troupial is a notable black-orange colored bird. The little bananaquit is probably the most numerous bird on Bonaire togeter with a little dove, the totolica.

There are other common animals on Bonaire. A few of them have their own website. Here are few external websites:

There is also a list with websites related to the nature of Bonaire in the "Nature" section.

 

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