Jungle is an area of lush, tropical vegetation. People commonly use the word jungle to refer to what ecologists call a tropical rain forest. A tropical rain forest is a particularly type of plant and animal community. It includes huge trees, long vines, and such animals as parrots and monkeys. See Rain forest. Some ecologists consider jungles to be one stage in a rain forest’s development. They regard jungles as thick tangles of plants growing where sunlight reaches the rain forest floor. Such jungles grow along riverbanks and in clearings, where no trees block the sunlight. Farmers and lumber companies often cut down sections of tropical rain forests. But the cleared areas later may become choked with jungle growth. Jungles may be so thick that people can only move through them by hacking paths. The hacking is done using long knives called machetes.
