In December 2014, I spent a week in the southern Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The majority of this part of Mexico is undeveloped. The main highway that runs along the coast is primarily bordered by jungle, secondly by resorts and adventure parks, and thirdly by the occasional city (Cancun, Peurto Morelos, Playa del Carmen, Tulum). I stayed at a resort just a few miles south of Playa del Carmen. You can zoom in on the map below to get a sense of the landscape. My time here was limited to a few days, and most of my wildlife-seeking occurred on and around the resort, which had a few nature trails that I enjoyed.
Looking at the map of the resort, I noticed icons labeled Monkeys, Deer, and Flamingos. After finding the howler monkey enclosure empty, I checked out the deer exhibit. I didn't know what species
of deer were found in Mexico. To my surprise, the enclosure contained the familiar white-tailed deer (Oddocoleus viginianus), which is very abundant where I live in New England. I learned that the species occurs from Northern Canada all
the way to Southern Peru.
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| Captive white-tailed deer - Quintana Roo, Mexico |
Some coati were lounging by the deer feeding station. I suspect
this was a group of wild individuals taking advantage of the free buffet. Coati are a raccoon-relative, but are
diurnal and have different physical features, including a longer snout
and a longer tail.
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Coati in deer exhibit - Quintana Roo, Mexico
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Making my way down a path on the outskirts of the resort, I came across an anole (type of lizard of which there are very many species in multiple genera). I believe this was a brown anole (Norops sagrei). This
is a small lizard that resembles its relative, the green anole (often seen in Florida and in pet stores across
the U.S.). To give a sense of scale, this lizard would have fit in the palm of
your hand. This anole was not overly skittish, and allowed me get my camera lens quite close before darting away into some plants, resulting in a decent photograph.
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| Brown anole - Quintana Roo, Mexico |
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| Captive flamingo - Quintana Roo, Mexico |
Cutting back through the resort, I came across some captive
flamingos. I do not agree with the practice of keeping animals captive if the sole purpose is so that people may appreciate their aesthetic value. Moreover, the pen they were fenced in was small, and so was their pond. At night, the few flamingos were put in a small building attached to
their enclosure and I could hear them squawking. I also suspect that their
flight feathers were clipped to keep them from flying away. I’ve never seen
flamingoes in the wild, and have appreciated seeing them in captivity a few times. Given their small enclosure, I would prefer these birds not be forced to live in captivity, but perhaps there were other circumstances I was unaware of. It's possible that they were rescued, rehabilitated, and now unable to survive in the wild for some reason.
After spending some time with the flamingoes, I set off down a trail
bisecting a patch of jungle in the resort. I came across two
large iguanas basking in a small field. By the next day, I was slightly numbed
to the presence of iguanas; they were all over the resort, all
over the archeological site of Tulum that I visited later, and presumably all over this part of
Mexico. There were even iguanas lounging by the poolside beside tourists, and on the beach, and on walkways outside of the hotel lobby. Regardless, this was my first time encountering wild iguanas and I was excited.
A larger iguana noticed me watching him, and picked his head up to keep an eye on me (photo below)
. Then, to my surprise, he actually started moving toward me. I wasn't sure if he was trying to intimidate me or to get a better view of what I was doing. Perhaps he was expecting food from me, like a seagull at a beach. He saw that I was maintaining my distance (and without food) and relaxed. He even started munching on the plant he was lounging beside (bottom photo below)
. The smaller iguana (middle photo below) was between the large one and myself.
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| Iguanas - Quintana Roo, Mexico |
Continuing down the trail, I passed another iguana basking on the side of a tree, and then encountered one on a walkway. This last iguana allowed me to get close enough for one of the better wildlife photographs I've taken.
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| Iguana - Quintana Roo, Mexico |
This iguana was just outside of an open part of a building adjoining the hotel lobby. Here, there were at least six macaws perched and on display. These are very beautiful and intelligent birds. I don't think they should be held captive by the resort and forced to sit on one perch for most of every day.
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| Captive macaw - Quintana Roo, Mexico |
Next, I came across an agouti. This is a common rodent that occurs in Central and South America. I saw them often during my trip, but they were always skittish and evaded me. So, I wasn't able to get any great photos of one. There are several species of agouti found in Central and South America. The animals I saw were Central American agouties (Dasyprocta punctata).
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| Central American agouti - Quintana Roo, Mexico |
Next, I made my way to the coast, which was further away from the resort. I discovered a wider variety of native Mexican animals along the coast than on the resort. I plan on sharing photos of these animals in a future post.
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| Ocean view - Quintana Roo, Mexico |
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