Country Guide

Wildlife

From penguins to toucans and whales to weavers Argentina has a vast range.

Not to speak of Argentina and its wildlife in the same breath is to miss the point. As the 8th largest country in the world, Argentina is a land of extremes; rainforests supporting everything, to open tundra that support seemingly nothing, ice flows and icebergs, salt flats, wetlands, high mountains, fertile farmlands, the list goes on.

With this diversity comes a wide range of animals that have learned to adapt and specialize in each of these areas and a plethora of birds. Historically, South America as a continent developed its flora and fauna independently from the rest of the world and, as such, only has a few of the most successful predators such as the mountain lion and the jaguar (or leopard, elsewhere in the world). For this reason, many of the species that are found in Argentina and have been found here (such as the giant sloth) have not had to fight as hard in order to survive as in other continents in the world….but this is not a drawback necessarily. There are many species of animal on the continent that warrant further inspection such as the capybara, the mare or the viscacha, all of which are indigenous.

In this section, we have tried to outline the various areas of Argentina and what wildlife you might expect to find. Not being biologists we have not bothered with the scientific names for every species, but this should give you a good indicator for what to look for while there and which seasons are best for what.

For a more in depth look at the specific areas, we have also recommended links through to the wildlife sections for these areas (in particular the Esteros del Ibera and the Peninsular Valdez spring to mind) as there may be a little too much information to digest in a brief overview!

Further reading...

  • › Birding
  • › Argentina vegetation
  • › Peninsula Valdes wildlife