My first thought is that a jungle is any patch, swath or endless vista of trees and such that is capable of supporting, monkeys, apes, colorful birds and big cats. And their prey. And Tarzan. Also, the availability of edible jungle fruit would be key in identifying a jungle. That and the huge tree-snake wrapping itself around your torso - another clear identifier.
How Tarzan survived in the jungle is a mystery all its own. He lived with apes, yet did not have the ability as a youngster to scurry up a tree or swing from tree to tree to escape tigers, jaguars, pumas, hyenas and the like, which would have made him easy pickings for the big cats. Obviously, once he was big enough to climb and swing and yodel, he was considerably safer, even though he could not grasp a banana with his foot. I'm certain he took a certain amount of ribbing from his ape-brethren for his lack of usable feet, as well as his mostly-hairless body. It didn't seem to affect his self-esteem, because in a matter of just a few years, he was running the show.
A yodeling Tarzan, running the show.
A forest, I assume, would be a smaller grouping of trees, incapable of supporting apes and big cats. Mostly deer, squirrels, rabbits and smaller predatory canines, such as wolves or foxes. Tarzan would also be unlikely to survive in the forest. A young Tarzan, while not needing to the ability to grasp a banana with his feet, would still be easy fodder for the forest-dogs without the aid of his wily monkey friends. Forests would be found abutting farms, castles and other populated communities and could be used to hunt (or poach, if it were owned by gentry) the aforementioned deer, squirrels and rabbits.
Some woods would also be found next to communities, farms and ranches. Sodbusters would hunt for the same game here as in forests and use their lumber to build their rough cabins and later carpentried homes. I would consider the woods to be the younger, red-haired brother of the forest. Much smaller and not much missed if completely destroyed by progress. Just like the younger red-haired brother.
Let's to to the research. This from Sciencing.com: "Woods and forests have no clear delineation in scientific terms, although they are widely considered to be slightly different. Both are expanses of land covered in trees and inhabited by animals, but woods are smaller and their canopy cover significantly less dense than those of forests. Jungles are a colloquially-termed subtype of tropical rainforest that is particularly dense with undergrowth. Woods and deciduous forests are populated by animals such as deer, bears, mice and owls, while jungles are populated by animals such as snakes, monkeys, macaws and crocodiles."
I forgot about bears. Not to mention crocodiles. Both of which would eagerly devour a young Tarzan. Otherwise, I was pretty much on-point. Good job, Jer-Bear. Take that, research staff.
And as the apes often say, while slinging their feces, "Good day, Sir!"
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