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Pantanal Brazil's undiscovered wilderness Araras
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ABOUT THE PANTANAL -
compliments of Araras Eco Lodge The Pantanal">
Pantanal Brazil's undiscovered
wilderness Araras
Eco Lodge
The Pantanal,
considered to be the world`s biggest wetland area, covers an area of approximately 150,000
km² situated in the upper Paraguay River Basin. The greater part lies in Brasil, divided between the states
of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, extending into Bolivia and Paraguay. The Pantanal, with an elevation of between 80-150 meters is
surrounded by higher plateaus and this is where the Pantanal river system springs from. When the Portuguese discovered the basin they actually took
it for a permanent inland sea and on the oldest maps of South America the area is named
"Sea of Xaraés". Only a bit more than 200 years ago the first Portuguese
settled down in the region and gave it the name it has today: "O Pantanal",
which in Portuguese means "The Swamp". The Pantanal is not a real swamp though; it's
a floodplain. Every year during the wet season, November to April, up to 2/3 of the whole
area gets inundated by the complex river system. The annual rainfall in the Pantanal is
between 1,000 1,400 mm, which compared to the Amazon isn't a lot. But the slope of
the Pantanal is extremely slight: only 2 cm/ km in a north-south direction and the rivers
are not able to cope with the rain water and overflow their banks. During this season only
islands and forests on higher elevations remain dry. After the wet season comes dry
season. The floodplain drains into the Paraguay river, part of the second longest river
system in South America and life vein in the Pantanal and very slowly the wet lands turn
into dry grasslands. As a result of the rain there is a huge flood wave that moves through
the Pantanal. It takes this wave six months to go from the north to the south of the
Pantanal. So in the south, a couple of months after the end of the rainy season, all of a
sudden the water level rises again and the savanna gets flooded once more for a while. By
the end of the dry season only a few spots of water are left and this is when you get the
famous congregations of wildlife in the Pantanal. The Pantanal is noteworthy for its
extraordinary bio diversity and abundance of wildlife and is known as "the world's
biggest ecological sanctuary". The vegetation of the Pantanal is mainly a
mixture between three of the most important Eco-systems of South America; the Chaco with
its dry forest formations to the south, the savanna-like Cerrado to the east and the
Amazon jungle to the north. As a result of the topography and the seasonal climate the
landscapes consist of swamps, seasonally flooded grass and woodlands, and various types of
forest (evergreen, semi deciduous, gallery etc.). This mixture has caused the Pantanal to
house the highest concentration of wildlife in all of the Americas. In the Pantanal region occur around 700
species of birds (compared to about 500 in all Europe). It is one of the most important
breeding grounds for typical wetland birds such as heron, stork, ibis and pink spoonbill
that are found in enormous flocks. The magnificent Jabiru with its red neck and black
head; the biggest stork of the Americas is known as the symbol of the Pantanal. Quite
evident are also the 26 species of parrot including the endangered blue hyacinth macaw,
the world's largest parrot more than one meter long. Of other characteristic birds can be
mentioned the rhea the South American version of the ostrich. The large quantity of
birds of prey represented by 45 species indicates a well balanced ecosystem.
The Pantanal is also one of the last refuges
for many threatened South American mammal species such as jaguar, puma, ocelot, manned
wolf, giant otter, giant anteater, giant armadillo, marsh deer (the biggest deer of South
America), peccary (the south American wild pig) and tapir. The most characteristic mammal
of the Pantanal is the capybara (the world's largest rodent up to 70 kg), that can be
observed during the dry season in herds of up to 100 individuals. Monkeys are represented
by 5 species. Most evident among the around 50 species of
reptiles are the Paraguayan caiman which is still quite abundant despite heavy poaching in
the past and the world's largest snake the anaconda. The many rivers and lakes of the Pantanal
sustain a varied fish life of at least 260 species including several species of piranha as
well as catfish of up to 120 kg. Almost 99% of the Pantanal is privately owned
land consisting of "fazendas", large cattle ranches. No cities are found in the
Pantanal, only about 2,500 fazendas. In recent years the grasslands have fed up to 8
million head of cattle. Little of the area has been unaffected by the cattle and the
activities of the local "Pantaneiros", but it is generally considered that these
factors have left the nature relatively unharmed. During the last decades, however, the
Pantanal has been under serious attack. The area and its wildlife are threatened by a
number of human activities such as poaching aimed at the international skin and pet trade,
deforestation, man-made fires, illegal over fishing and uncontrolled tourism. The biggest
thread in the long run, however, is the environmental contamination coming from the
surrounding highlands where most of the population and activities in the region are found.
Via rivers the Pantanal receives from these uplands substantial amounts of chemicals from
agriculture, mercury from gold mining, untreated sewage and waste from cities and organic
waste with high oxygen demand from various agro industries. The Brazilians have a saying: "o
Pantanal é vida" "the Pantanal is life". If this unique and
precious life is to be saved the Pantanal needs a lot of help. Suggestion for further
reading: SEASONS - compliments of Caiman Ecological Refuge: When is the
best time to visit Pantanal? Temperature The summer is hot, with temperatures
around 25ºC (77ºF) to 40ºC (104ºF). During the winter the weather is mild and dry,
with temperature varying from 18ºC (64ºF) to 30ºC (86ºF), but the occasional cold
front can bring temperatures as low as 8ºC (46ºF). So, if you plan visit the Pantanal
from June to August, is important to be prepared to these unpredictable cold fronts. JANUARY
through MARCH - WET SEASON APRIL through
JUNE - INTERMEDIATE SEASON JULY through
OCTOBER - DRY SEASON NOVEMBER
through DECEMBER - RAINY SEASON WHAT TO BRING? Compliments of Caiman Ecological Refuge |