What Do Rainforest Animals Eat?
Rainforest animals eat a wide and varied diet, including fruit, leaves, insects, nuts, seeds, bark, grasses and other animals. The rainforest is estimated to contain approximately half the world’s animal species. Some of these species are vegetarians, some are carnivores, and some are omnivores.
The rainforest is home to some of the largest, fiercest animals and reptiles in the world, including Bengal tigers, jaguars, gorillas, anacondas, boa constrictors and reticulated pythons. Bengal tigers eat monkeys, pigs, birds, antelopes, boars, and, occasionally, elephants. Similarly, jaguars eat many different kind of animals, including turtles, tapir and deer. Gorillas, on the other hand, are vegetarians and eat leaves, fruit and bark.
Reptiles make up a large class of rainforest animals. The anaconda is a large snake that lives near the water in South America. It eats rodents, fish, birds, turtles and even larger animals at times, depending on the size of the anaconda. Boa constrictors, another large snake, are known to eat birds, lizards and small rodents, such as bats. Boas do no eat larger mammals. Another kind of snake is the reticulated python, which lives all over Southeast Asia, usually near water. Reticulated pythons eat birds and mammals of varying sizes, possibly even including humans. Like other snakes, including the boa constrictor, the reticulated python uses its muscular body to constrict and suffocate its prey.
