Wetland animals

Wetlands are places where water shapes the soil, vegetation and animal life. They include marshes, floodplains, reedbeds, shallow lakes and some lagoons. Animals use them for food, shelter or reproduction.

Which animals use wetlands?

• Mammals: otters, beavers, coypus, capybaras, hippopotamuses and other water-associated species.
• Birds: pelicans, herons, cormorants, ducks and cranes.
• Amphibians and reptiles: frogs, freshwater turtles and some crocodilians.
• Invertebrates: dragonflies and mosquitoes, whose young stages develop in water.

Many of these animals also spend time on land. A stork may feed in wet grassland, while an adult dragonfly flies over land. Dependence on a wetland may involve only one stage of a life cycle.

Different connections to water

Dependence on wetlands varies between animals. Freshwater turtles use aquatic habitats, while land tortoises have different needs.

Continue with freshwater animals, or explore a particular region such as the Danube Delta.

Sources: Ramsar Convention — wetland types · Ramsar Convention — wetlands and biodiversity