North America
Mexico is one of the planet's megadiverse countries and the point where the fauna and flora of North America meet those of the American tropics. Its two Sierra Madre ranges enclose a highland of scrub and pine-oak forest holding more pine and oak species than anywhere else in the world, while the south harbours rainforest and cloud forest. Baja California combines desert with coastal lagoons where grey whales calve after crossing the whole Pacific, and the Yucatán peninsula hides beneath its limestone platform the largest flooded cave system on the planet. The Gulf of California, with its high productivity, was called the aquarium of the world by Jacques Cousteau.
National animal: The golden eagle, the national bird, on the coat of arms and the flag; the Xoloitzcuintle is the national dog
Every autumn, hundreds of millions of monarch butterflies travel up to four thousand kilometres from Canada and the United States to a handful of oyamel fir forests in Michoacán and the State of Mexico, where they cover the trees until the branches bend. The extraordinary part is that no single butterfly makes the round trip: it takes several generations, and even so the granddaughters and great-granddaughters return to the same stands they have never seen.
The vaquita, a small cetacean found only in the northern Gulf of California, is the most endangered marine mammal in the world, with fewer than ten individuals left, a victim of the illegal nets used to catch totoaba. The axolotl survives in the canals of Xochimilco and is a worldwide scientific model for its ability to regenerate limbs and organs.
The Michoacán sanctuaries between November and March for the monarch. The Baja California lagoons between January and March for grey whales. Revillagigedo in winter for giant mantas and sharks.
What is worth looking out for this month in Mexico?
Least ConcernTurkey Vulture
Cathartes aura
Now is a good time: Veracruz River of Raptors (20 August to 20 November (peak in the first two weeks of October))
VulnerableGreat White Shark
Carcharodon carcharias
Now is a good time: Great white shark aggregation at Guadalupe Island (July to November (some years into January))
Where else might I want to travel?
Same region: North America
Same region: North America
509 species found
Based on what we already know about Mexico.
