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Flora & Fauna
Guam's tropical plants are a study of hearty beauty. There are more than 600 species of plants on Guam, of which 100 are trees. For generations, the Chamorros used plants to enhance their happiness, health, comfort, and safety.
There are plants that produce sweet-smelling flowers and trees with succulent fruit. The perfumed aroma of plumeria, ginger, and jasmine permeates the air, and Guam's territorial flower, the bougainvillea (puti tai nobio) blooms in many hues, lending color and form to the island's landscape. Papayas, bananas, coconuts, breadfruit, mangoes, guavas, mountain apples, limes, and tangerilles flourish in the island's ideal tropical climate.
The spreading branches of iron wood and banyan trees provide shade from the midday sun and shelter from the wind. Many trees and smaller plants produce substances with medicinal qualities. The slow-growing ifil tree, famous for its rich-grained timber, is the official tree of Guam. The wood is a favorite of local carvers, who fashion tables, clocks, commemorative plaques, and other decorative items of practical use. Flame trees are one of the island's most spectacular sights when they bloom from May through August, resembling bright sparks of red and orange among green leaves. This highly decorative tree has dense clusters of reddish-orange flowers.
 Despite its isolation from major land masses, Guam has a number of interesting forms of animal life. Introduced deer and wild pigs inhabit jungle areas, as well as domesticated Carabao, or water buffalo, that can be seen lounging in cool streams on sultry days.
We have shorebirds, such as the American Golden Plover, Gray-tailed Tattlers, and the Mongolian Dotteral. Rare and beautiful birds, such as the rose-crowned fruit dove, king fishers, and the Guam Rail, are endangered species. Wild chickens make every neighborhood their home, and their early morning cries serve as alarm clock for many island residents.
Small, harmless lizards called geckos, blue-tailed skinks, and chameleons patrol our homes and gardens, searching for insects. Occasionally, monitor lizards known locally as hilitai, can be seen darting across roads, especially in the northern part of the island. Despite their popularity on the dinner table, the endangered fruit bats (fanihi) still dwell in caves in the northern tip of the island, though in greatly reduced numbers. Coconut crabs (ayuyu) prowl the grounds at night. Exotic African land snails leave silvery trails on garden paths and multicolored butterflies flutter from one exotic flower to another.
Although Guam has a tremendous amount of fauna diversity, the non-poisonous brown tree snake, introduced to the island sometime after the Second World War by cargo ships has become an unwelcomed predator and pest. According to biologists, these brown tree snakes indigenous to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands have virtually eliminated many bird species. The government has spent millions of dollars in attempts to eradicate the pest, and it looks as though it is beginning to work.
But most of Guam's life forms dwell in submerged areas offshore. Approximately 300 forms of rainbow hued hard coral and 50 soft coral inhabit Guam's reefs, and jewel-like tropical fish thrive in warm coastal waters.
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