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Nice botanical gardens and a small wildlife reserve

Barbados' Flora and Fauna

Barbados is 5 times larger than Manhattan in New York. Therefore the animal diversity isn't that large, but you will find several botanical gardens with plants from all over the world.

Barbados is a small island, therefore the variety of animals is quite manageable but nevertheless very interesting.

Fauna (Animals)

Snakes:Barbados' snakes were exterminated a long time ago.

Green Monkeys
Barbados has a population of roughly 5000 - 8000 green monkeys. You can see green Monkeys which are used to humans in the small Barbados wildlife reserve.

Sea Turtles
Barbados' sea turtles are among the most popular attractions of tourists on the island. The sea turtles are legally protected on the Caribbean island of Barbados. These free-living sea turtles are so used to humans, that you can swim and snorkel with the animals and you can even feed and touch this beautiful creatures of mother nature. Beside Barbados' sea turtles you will find some land turtles in Barbados' wildlife reserve.

Fish
Due to Barbados' exposed location at the eastern border of the Caribbean, Barbados has a very rich marine life. One particular important fish is Barbados' flying fish. Barbados' flying fish is a national symbol and the most eaten fish on this Caribbean island. As the name implies, flying fishes can fly (or sail) above the water surface with a speed of up to 50 km/h (∼ 30 miles per hour).

Other Animals
You can find bats on the island of Barbados, about 24 bird species are living permanently on the island as well as many migratory birds. Barbados has one frog species, and many small lizards and mongooses. The mongooses were brought to Barbados to exterminate the snakes, which worked quite well.

Sharks
As well as in other Caribbean islands, you will find several sharks species in front of the coast of Barbados.
But there was no shark attack in Barbados' over 300 year old history. Barbados receives approximately 1,000,000 visitors per year and Barbados is a hot spot for surfers, beach vacationers (holiday-maker) and divers.

The next video gives you an impression of Barbados' underwater world. This video shows you also a nursing shark at Barbados' coast.

Flora (Flowers & Plants)

Plant life in Barbados is due to many imported plants very rich in species. You can experience the variety of plants in one of Barbados' many botanical gardens.
In the past the entire Caribbean island of Barbados was covered with virgin forest. The virgin forest has been severely deforested, mainly for sugar cane cultivation. Nowadays only a small percentage of the original forest still exists.

There are at least 700 plant species on the island because many private people and the owners of botanical gardens always import new plants to establish them on the island.

Palm Trees: Barbados' has a variety of beautiful palm trees. Among them are coconut palms, king palms and cabbage palms and many more.