Thanks to its rich vegetation, the Botanical Garden is regularly visited by many animal species. The physical connection with the City Park and the Tijuca National Park forests gives the support to protect the native species.
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There still are no precise studies about the fauna of the BGRJ, except for a list of birds observed there, with 138 species from 34 families. Between 1940 and 1980, these species were catalogued by ornithologist Augusto Ruschi (1916-1986). Among them there are many birds that make their nests upon the Garden's trees.
Many of these birds visit the park all year round, some stay only for a period of time, because they migrate in Winter.
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Among the mammals that live here, we have the "caxinguelês"(squirrel - Sciurus ingrami), symbol of the BGRJ, monkeys (Calitrix jacques, Cebus), and sometimes skunks.
In the lakes, many native and exotic fish species can be observed. Lizards, snakes and a great variety of butterflies are also constant visitors.
Garça
on Frei Leandro's Lake - Pedro Schuback
Caxinguelê
(Sciurus ingrami) - Claus Meyer.