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Rainforest Animals: Borneo Island

By: Lucien Oliveira

Rainforests are one of the richest ecosystems in the world. They are known as being "incubators" of life because almost every inch of it is covered with native plants, and these plants sustain millions of animal species. However, as many other biomes in different geographic areas, it is greatly threatened by logging, mining, cattle ranches, and especially agricultural farms. As a consequence of it, many rainforest animals are endangered of becoming extinct.

Borneo Island has got a rich rainforest which is considered one of the oldest and most undisturbed forests in the world. It has a huge variety of trees and amazing animals. It contains 221 species of land mammals and 420 of resident birds. Of course it could not be any different since rainforests are a natural home to biodiversity, and, although they cover only 6% of our planet's surface, they have around 50% of all fauna and flora species.

Among Borneo's rainforest animals we can find the famous Orangutan. These apes live most of their lives on trees, using their long arms and legs to jump from one tree to the other. Their main dietary elements are fruits. Next, we have a very colorful bird, the Rhinoceros Hornbill, which has a peculiar horn on top of its beak. Borneo gibbons are also part of the rainforest. They are very agile apes with strong hands and arms that allow them to live most of the time on top of trees. Another animal that lives in Borneo rainforest is the Sumatran rhino, which has very unique features such as three-toed foot and a hairy body. They are considered the smallest rhinos in the Earth. The list goes on and includes macaques, the Bornean yellow muntjac, the bearded pig, which has got this name due to whiskers that grow on its long lower jaw, the banteng, a large and nocturnal bovine, sun bears, which are the smallest species of bear in the world but still considered very fierce animals, the flying fox, which is the biggest of the 90 species of bat in Borneo rainforest, the clouded leopard, the Sambar deer, which is the largest species of deer in the south part of Asia, and the pygmy elephant, a cute little species of elephant, among others.

Rainforest animals are adapted to live in a very specific geographic location. Rainforests are mainly located near the Equator, and are characterized by a wet and warm environment. Considering this, and the fact that rainforests offer perfect living conditions (plenty of water, shelter, and food), it is clear that biodiversity is the key word here: lizards, chameleons, snakes, hummingbirds, sunbirds, flying squirrels, frogs, monkeys, sloths, pangolins, tamanduas, jaguars, leopards, flying lemurs, colorful birds, spider monkeys, flying frogs, tree porcupines, not to mention an incredible amount of insects such as ants, beetles, cockroaches, butterflies, etc., all wandering about in the forest. One can see life anywhere he or she looks! So, we need to urgently set things going to protect these precious ecosystems before they reach their limit and we can no longer help them.

Article Source: http://www.articleresourceindex.com

Lucien Oliveira is a freelance writer with strong interest nature, wildlife and animals. You can find more about wildlife, animals and rainforest animals. Read more about animal endangered.

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