A Little Bit About Rainforests in Different Parts of the World

Asia

	Asia has lots of rainforests in different places.  All of
them are close to the equator.  Many of the rainforests there are 
located on islands.   Asia has one of the three vast blocks of 
rainforests in the world.

	They have numerous types of animal species in the Asian 
rainforests.   It has the most kinds, in fact.  Some of the 
species there are the leopard, the Malayan tapir and the tiger.  
The largest flower, the rafflesia, is located in  Indonesian 
rainforests.

Africa

	  Africa has rainforests in many different places.  Most 
of them are on the coastal edge.  The others are not very far 
from the ocean.  In Madagascar, the rainforests there are 
coastal.  Those rainforests are greatly different from the ones 
on the mainland.  

	There are lots of types of animals in the rainforests in 
Africa.  Lemurs are only found in the rainforests on Madagascar. 
 The other animals are found in different places.  The heaviest 
animals, such as the gorilla, are found on the forest floor.  The 
chimpanzees live in the trees and on the forest floor.  On the 
second layer of trees, bushbabies habitat.  These nocturnal 
animals spend most of the day sleeping in a tree trunk.  At night 
they feast on insects.  Hummingbirds also habitat in the Asian 
rainforests.   The suck nectar from flowers for nourishment.  
People also live in the rainforests.  The Pygmies and Bushmen 
dwell in some African rainforests .

	Until around 1990, rainforests were being lost at 2 
million hectares a year.  West African rainforests became smaller 
because of timber sales. 


North America

	The only tropical rainforests in North America are in 
Hawaii.  It is too cold for rainforests in other places.

Europe

	There are no rainforests in Europe.  It is too cold.

Antarctica

	No rainforests exist in Antarctica because it is too 
cold.

Australia

	Most of the rainforests are on Australia’s islands.  
There are some on the main land.  

	Opossums inhabit in the rainforests of Australia.  
Opossums are nocturnal and sleep most of the day.  Insects 
provide food for these creatures.

South America

	South America has the most rainforests in the world.  It 
also contains most of the neotropical rainforests.  Inside these 
rainforests, it is more likely to find more plants than animals. 
 In the tiny country Ecuador, there are more plant species than 
the entire United States of America!  

	There are a number of animal species in South American 
rainforests.  Some are the two-toed sloth, the emerald tree boa, 
the giant anteater and the golden spider monkey.  Many kinds of 
cats live in the rainforest.  Some you may have heard of are the 
jaguar, the ocelot, and the margay.  The macaw is able to crack 
open fruit and nuts with its beak.  That can be useful to this 
brightly-coloured bird.  
	The Amazon River, one of the best known rivers in the 
world, has 20% of the world’s fresh water run through it each 
day!

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