Venezuela is home to an enormous variety of animals and plants, and is one of the most biodiversity regions in the world. The evolution of the country's flora and fauna was the result of two principal factors:

§ The diversity of the landscape, which facilitated the development of numerous, distinct habitats

§ The natural is history of the continent.

Most of Venezuela's vegetation is tropical and evergreen or semi- deciduous. Forests cover some two-fifths of the land, and savanna grasses cover about half. Variations in elevation and rainfall create differences in vegetation. True tropical species generally do not flourish above 460 metres, although the selva intermingles with tall savanna grasslands in transitional zones in the interior; mangrove swamps are found in the Orinoco delta. The selva gives way to semitropical vegetation that reaches up to about 1,500 meters and characteristically includes tree ferns and epiphytes such as orchids. Higher up the Andean slopes, fern forests give way to mountain vegetation, culminating above 3,000 meters in páramo vegetation, which has few trees but a variety of small alpine shrubs and lichens. The southern Maracaibo basin is covered by dense tropical rainforest, but closer to the Caribbean the basin is characterized by xerophytic scrub woodland and grasses; this type of plant life formerly covered the entire northwestern region.

Venezuela's wildlife exhibits considerable variety. Seven species of the cat family inhabit the forested interior, including jaguars, ocelots, jaguarundis, pumas, and margays. Several types of monkeys also live in forested territories, among them howler and spider monkeys, long-tailed capuchins, and nocturnal douroucoulis. Other forest animals include bears, peccaries, deer, opossums, wild dogs, agoutis, and skunks. Among the more unusual species are tapir, which are large, cloven-hoofed quadrupeds with prominent snouts. Herbivorous manatees are aquatic mammals that survive in the coastal estuaries.