Secondary Consumers

A secondary consumer is an animal that eats another consumer. It can eat a primary consumer or a secondary consumer. It is often called a carnivore. In the tropical rainforest, there are many types of secondary consumers. One type is a jaguar. Jaguars are often confused with leopards. They both have a brownish- yellowish base fur color with dark rosette markings. However, unlike the leopard, the jaguar has small dots or irregular shapes within the larger rosette markings, a more stocky and muscular body, and a shorter tail. It is the third largest cat, after the tiger and lion, in the world, and is the largest and most powerful one in the Western Hemisphere. Most of them live in Mexico and Central America. Besides a small population in Arizona, there are no known wild jaguars in the United States. Another common secondary consumer in a tropical rainforest are snakes. One type of snake is the red bellied black snake. It is one of the most well known snakes in Australia that are large and venomous. Although its venom will not kill any humans, if you are bitten by this snake, you should treat it immediately. It is called the red bellied black snake because its underside is slightly pinkish, and the rest of it is jet black. This species is generally not aggressive. However, if it is provoked, it will recoil into its striking stance as a threat, but will escape at the first possible moment. Another snake is the amethystine python. At up to 8.5 meters, it is Australia's largest snake. The snake is greenish -brown in color, but the scales are a bluish -purplish color. Unlike the red bellied black snake, this species is not venomous.