Animals & Insects

Animals

Home to over 60 species of exotic mammals, birds, reptiles and more, the St. Maarten Zoo is the “biggest little zoo” in the Caribbean. Now in the wild and on the lose, it is most common to see a donkey, a sow and her piglets, a herd of cows or goats crossing the road. Lately, the island is seeing an increase in Yellow Tip Monkeys that have been reported in the Red Pond and Loterie Farm areas. On rarer occassions, you may see a mangouste and if you’re quick, a hummingbird. While we have no parrots in the wild due to a change in the eco system over the years, the island’s national bird is the Pelican which you find abundantly on the rock formations and islets on the way to Pinel Island. Other birds are too numerous to mention but a few most common are the egret and seagull, and sugar birds (called a “sugar thief” in Dutch).

Iguana ©A.Izzard

An Angel, A Monkey ©ZebraBOT

Iguana Boss ©ZebraBOT

Striking is the Toucan ©ZebraBOT

National Pelican ©www.ecocarib.org

Little Face at the Zoo @ZebraBOT

Got up on the wrong side of bed @ZebraBOT

Blue on Red @ZebraBOT

Insects

Imagine walking through a lush tropical rain forest amidst flowers and trees, ponds and a trickling waterfall with butterflies flying overhead and all around you in their own natural paradise… you’re at the Butterfly Farm at Le Galion. It’s a magical place. In the wild on the other hand, you may cross paths with an iguana but most commonly small lizards or salamanders here called tek-tek. The island has neither venomous insects nor reptiles.