Animals in El Salvador

El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America and the only one with no Caribbean coast, a land of more than 20 volcanoes squeezed between the mountains of Honduras and the Pacific Ocean. With about 6 million people, it is also the most densely populated country in the region, so most of the original forest has been cleared for farms, towns and coffee. That history shapes its wildlife. Shade grown coffee farms on the volcano slopes now work as forest for many birds and small mammals, and the larger animals survive in a few protected places, such as El Imposible, the largest forest left in the west, and Montecristo, a cloud forest on the borders with Guatemala and Honduras where the resplendent quetzal still lives. The climate is tropical, with a dry season from about November to April and a rainy season from May to October, and the hills and valleys hold dry forest where white tailed deer, gray foxes, raccoons and iguanas live, along with small wild cats such as the ocelot, the margay and the jaguarundi. The torogoz, the national bird, nests in earth banks across the country. The Pacific coast adds mangroves, beaches where sea turtles nest and coral reefs at Los Cóbanos.

People and wildlife have learned to share a crowded land. Since 2009 eating sea turtle eggs has been banned, local communities now guard nesting beaches, and Jiquilisco Bay, the largest mangrove system in the country, is a UNESCO biosphere reserve and one of the last refuges in the eastern Pacific for one of the rarest sea turtles in the world.

Nature tourism is growing. Visitors hike El Imposible and Montecristo, watch turtles hatch at Jiquilisco Bay and see dolphins and humpback whales off Los Cóbanos in winter, often after a day on the surf beaches of the coast.

El Salvador is not known for very dangerous animals, and serious wildlife incidents are rare. The wild cats of its forests are shy and avoid people completely, and raccoons can bite only if they are cornered or fed by hand, so it is best to watch them from a distance. Venomous snakes live in the dry lowlands and farmland, and most bites happen to farm workers, so boots, care where you step and a flashlight at night are the best protection.

The main animal to respect is at sea. Large sharks live along the Pacific coast, and some of them can swim into estuaries, mangroves and river mouths, where the water is murky and fishermen clean their catch, although bites in El Salvador are very uncommon. Swimming at popular beaches, avoiding river mouths after rain and staying out of the water where fish are cleaned are simple ways to enjoy the coast safely. For most visitors, the strong waves and currents of the surf beaches are a bigger risk than any animal, so it is worth swimming only where locals do and asking about conditions before going in.

El Salvador's best known animals are spread between a few protected forests, the open countryside and the coast. The cougar still roams the most remote forests and mountains, but it is very rarely seen, and the three small wild cats, the ocelot, the margay and the jaguarundi, survive in protected areas such as El Imposible; the margay is the best climber of the three, able to run down tree trunks head first. White tailed deer live in dry forests and hills, often near farms and coffee plantations, and coyotes hunt in farmland and open country at night. Among the birds, the resplendent quetzal, with its long green tail, is the prize of the cloud forest of Montecristo, best seen in the breeding season early in the year, while the torogoz, the national bird, is easy to see in gardens and along country roads all over the country. Peregrine falcons arrive in winter from North America and hunt over cliffs and coasts. Rattlesnakes live in the dry lowlands and are rarely seen, as they hide during the heat of the day.