Danger Zone

Beware: Deadly Beasts

Whether fighting your way through the dense forest floor, wading through swamp areas or taking your chances in the terrifying heights of the forest canopy, any one of these creatures could stop you - dead:

Poison arrow frogs
This group of frogs are small (sometimes less than 1.5cm long) but deadly. Their bright colours are used to warn predators against the poisons that they secrete through their skin. As a result, they are able to be active during the day alongside their predators, rather than being nocturnal like most frogs. The poison on their skins has historically been used to poison the tips of blowdarts of the indigenous people of Central America, hence their other name of Poison Dart Frog.
Flesh-tearing piranhas
These vicious omnivorous fish live in Central American rivers, and have an insatiable appetite for meat and razor-sharp teeth to satisfy it. They have been known to hunt in large schools, preying on anything from small river fish to dolphins to humans. They are normally around 25cm long, but have been known to get up to as much as 45cm! In 2007 a piranha was caught by a fisherman in the Catawba River in North Carolina so think carefully next time you go for a paddle…
Razor-tooth crocodiles
These aquatic reptiles may have been about for 200 million years but they are no old crocs! In fact, all that time on this planet has turned them into mean killing machines, responsible for the death of 2,000 people each year. They can swim through the water at incredible speed and their webbed feet allow them to turn very quickly. This allows them to ambush their prey such as fish, mammals and even sharks occasionally. The largest recorded crocodile was 8.6m long and the oldest was found to be about 130 years old - so they're big, old and snappy.
Hunting jaguars
Jaguars are one of the four big cats and are now found for the most part in the rainforest of Central America. They are apex predators which means that they are at the top of the food chain and as carnivores they control the population of other mammals lower down the food chain. They can climb, crawl and swim and their piercing teeth can slice open through a turtle shell. They tend to stalk and ambush from their prey's blind side and can drag huge carcasses in their strong jaws. Black and white panthers are also in the jaguar family.